MELLTT / SELTI: Self-deploying lunar tower

Since 2019, the Deployable Composite Booms team at NASA's Langley Research Center (LaRC) and MIT's Space Resources Workshop have been collaborating in the design and prototyping of mechanical systems that can vertically deploy NASA's existing composite booms in lunar gravity, in support of the Artemis program.

The Multifunctional Expandable Lunar Lightweight and Tall Tower (MELLTT) was a finalist in the NASA 2020 BIG Idea Challenge, where it received the Path to Flight Award. The design provided for a 16.5-meter, self-deploying composite tower designed for lunar exploration in permanently shadowed regions. Applications encompass vertical solar arrays, elevated lines of sight for scientific and engineering payloads, radio repeaters, remote sensing, navigation, and power beaming systems.

However, these lightweight coiled tubular mast booms, while having an excellent length to mass ratio, often exhibit axial curvature when deployed. This results in notable lateral deflection at the tip, increasing with tower height and tip mass, thereby compromising tower value and integrity. To enhance these towers, mechanisms to rectify static deflections during and after deployment were studied and prototyped as part of the Self-Erecting Lunar Tower for Instruments (SELTI) project, supported by an unfunded Space Act Agreement with NASA from 2021 - 2023.

Future efforts starting in spring 2024 will focus on designing a second-generation tower integrating insights from this proof-of-concept. For more information, please see the MELLTT and SELTI project pages at MIT's Space Resources Workshop.

Figure: SELTI vertical deployment test to 8 meters

Figure: SELTI vertical deployment test to 11 meters

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