Albert J. Juhasz

Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, Ohio

Multi-Megawatt Gas Turbine Power Systems

for Lunar Colonies

NASA/TM—2006-214658

December 2006

AIAA–2006–4117
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Multi-Megawatt Gas Turbine Power Systems

for Lunar Colonies

NASA/TM—2006-214658

December 2006

National Aeronautics and

Space Administration

Glenn Research Center

Cleveland, Ohio 44135

Prepared for the

Fourth International Energy Conversion Engineering Conference and Exhibit (IECEC)

sponsored by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics

San Diego, California, June 26–29, 2006

AIAA–2006–4117

Albert J. Juhasz

Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, Ohio
Acknowledgments

This work was conducted at NASA Glenn Research Center Thermal Energy Conversion Branch.

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Level of Review: This material has been technically reviewed by technical management.

This report is a formal draft or working

paper, intended to solicit comments and

ideas from a technical peer group.
NASA/TM—2006-214658 1

Multi-Megawatt Gas Turbine Power Systems for Lunar Colonies 

Albert J. Juhasz 

National Aeronautics and Space Administration 

Glenn Research Center 

Cleveland, Ohio 44135 

Abstract 

A concept for development of second generation 10 MWe prototype lunar power plant utilizing a gas 

cooled fission reactor supplying heated helium working fluid to two parallel 5 MWe closed cycle gas 

turbines is presented. Such a power system is expected to supply the energy needs for an initial lunar 

colony with a crew of up to 50 persons engaged in mining and manufacturing activities. System 

performance and mass details were generated by an author developed code (BRMAPS). The proposed 

pilot power plant can be a model for future plants of the same capacity that could be tied to an 

evolutionary lunar power grid. 

Nomenclature 

Ar radiating area, m2 

Cp working fluid specific heat, J/kg-K 

D average sun-to-lunar orbit distance (1.496*1011m) 

hr gas heat transfer coefficient, W/m2

- K 

L Solar Luminosity (3.86*1026 W) 

m working fluid mass flow rate, kg/s

PIC compressor Inlet Pressure, mPa 

POC compressor Outlet Pressure, mPa 

PIT turbine Inlet Pressure, mPa 

POT turbine Outlet Pressure, mPa 

Te, Ts equilibrium surface or space sink Temperature, K 

Twin wall surface temperature at Radiator duct inlet, K 

Twex wall surface temperature at Radiator duct exit, K 

α cycle temperature ratio; α = solar absorptivity (eq. (1) only) 

ε radiator surface emissivity 

εR regenerator effectiveness 

γ specific heat ratio of working fluid 

ηb cycle heat input efficiency; 

ηc isentropic efficiency of compressor (function of polytropic efficiency, pressure ratio, γ) 

ηt isentropic efficiency of turbine (function of polytropic efficiency, pressure ratio, γ) 

ηth thermodynamic cycle efficiency 

σ Stefan-Boltzmann constant (5.67*108

 W/m2-K4) 

I. Introduction 

Ever since the first lunar landing over 36 years ago, establishment of a permanent lunar presence by 

humans has been an intriguing concept. Establishment of initial lunar outposts which would gradually 

evolve into bases and eventually human colonies has been the topic of numerous studies (Eckart ed. 

1999). Lunar bases and colonies would be strategic assets for development and testing of space 

technologies required for further exploration and colonization of favorable places in the solar system, 

such as Mars. 
NASA/TM—2006-214658 2

Specifically, the establishment of lunar mining, smelting and manufacturing operations for the 

production of oxygen, Helium 3 and metals from the high grade ores (breccias) of asteroid impact sites in 

the Highland regions would result in extraordinary economic benefits for a cis-lunar economy that may 

very likely exceed expectations. For example, projections based on lunar soil analyses show that average 

metal content mass percentage values for the highland regions is the following (Eckart, op. cit.): 

Al, 13 percent; Mg, 5.5 percent; Ca, 10 percent; and Fe, 6 percent. The iron content of the “Maria” soil 

has been shown to reach 15 percent. 

In time technologies culminating in effective utilization of these lunar resources would enable more 

ambitious projects such as construction of optical and radio astronomy facilities. Besides the tremendous 

benefits resulting from the absence of radio interference on the lunar far side, operation of a lunar radio 

telescope (RT) as an element of a “Very Large Baseline Array” (VLBA) could be integrated with an earth 

based telescope system. The separation distance of such a system would be some thirty times wider than 

the maximum possible separation of earth based telescopes. Since telescope resolving power is 

determined by the ratio of wavelength-to-baseline separation distance, resolutions for the RT system at 

centimeter scale wavelengths would approach values of less then 10–5 arc seconds, thus permitting 

detailed observations on disks of nearby solar size stars (Zeilick and Gaustad, 1990). 

Regarding optical astronomy the far side of the lunar surface would be the best site for an observatory 

in the Solar System. A key requirement for the establishment of permanent human presence on the lunar 

surface is a reliable power system to supply energy demands for life support, science, and operational 

requirements. Since such a power system is to provide continuous output through the 29.5 day synodic 

month, half of which receives no sunlight unless the power plant is located at the poles, the advantage of a 

heat source independent of the sun is obvious. Several studies have been performed using the lunar 

regolith soil as a thermal energy storage medium integrated with a solar power system. The conclusion 

reached was that while thermal energy could be stored as relatively low temperature sensible heat, high 

temperature latent heat storage necessary for a viable dynamic power system would require an elaborate 

heat distribution, storage, and retrieval network of such technological complexity that the concept was 

judged to be impractical. 

To circumvent the energy storage problems associated with solar power, energy conversion systems 

using nuclear heat sources offer definite advantages for lunar power plants. In this report the author 

discusses a 10 MWe conceptual lunar power plant design utilizing two 5 MWe CBC (Closed Brayton 

Cycle) helium gas turbine power systems operating in parallel with each other and in series with a single 

high temperature gas reactor (HTGR). 

A lunar power plant of up to 30 MWe capacity utilizing turbo-alternator engine modules was 

discussed in a previous report (Juhasz and Sawicki, 2005). In that report it was concluded that, due to the 

large radiator area requirement a 10 MWe power plant composed of two parallel 5 MW CCGT power 

systems drawing on a single reactor for their thermal energy supply, would greatly simplify the radiator 

configuration. To facilitate the cycle heat rejection process, a unique approach to lowering lunar daytime 

sink temperatures based on the analysis of Bien and Guentert (1969) using a light weight (~0.25 kg/m2

) 

aluminized plastic cover in the vicinity of the radiator is proposed. Conversely, a method for generating 

excess power during the lunar night, when sink temperatures are very low, could be utilized as discussed 

by Juhasz and Sawicki (2005). Before discussing the conceptual design of a lunar power system, a brief 

review of the lunar thermal environment is in order. 

II. Lunar Temperature Environment during Synodic Month 

The lunar environmental sink temperatures over the synodic month from full moon to the next full 

moon, as seen from earth, are shown in figure 1. Lunar midday temperatures can be computed from a 

relatively simple relationship based on the solar luminosity, and lunar surface emissivity and absorptivity 

to solar radiation as shown in equation (1) 

( )( ( )) 4 2 Te = α/ ε L / 4πσD (1) 
NASA/TM—2006-214658 3

Figure 1.—Lunar surface temperatures 

variation—lunar noon to noon. 

Figure 2.—Power system with in-line radiator and

reflective cover on moon (Bien and Guentert).

It is understood that “full moon” as viewed from earth actually is lunar midday at a central longitude 

location on the side of the moon facing earth. A more detailed procedure which includes infrared 

radiation from Earth during the lunar night is given by Juhasz (2001), who obtained lunar night 

temperatures of 70 K. Regarding figure 1, surface temperatures are seen to drop from about 385 K at noon 

to near 120 K at sunset, then to just over 80 K before sunrise. Temperatures then (in terms of lunar time) 

rapidly climb to the previously quoted noontime, or “full moon” values. A close examination of the 

temperature profile shows that lunar surface temperatures are at 360 K or above for about 28 percent of 

the synodic month, which is more than 8 earth days. Obviously, heat rejection to such high sink 

temperature levels would require very large radiator surface areas. Fortunately, as explained below, the 

sink temperature can be lowered by the use of an aluminized sheet of plastic, which can be spread out 

over the lunar surface in the vicinity of the radiator as proposed by Bien and Guentert (op. cit.) and 

illustrated in figure 2. In this concept the vertically oriented radiator wings, emanating on both sides of a 

centrally located vehicle, which contains the nuclear reactor/shield heat source and the gas turbine power 

system, are aligned in the lunar equatorial plane thus ensuring that negligible solar radiation is incident on 

the radiator, because the inclination of the mean lunar equator to the ecliptic is only ~1.6°. Even if the 
NASA/TM—2006-214658 4

outpost or base were to be located not at the lunar equator, but within a latitude range of ±30°, the 

lowering of sink temperature and corresponding radiator reduction could still be achieved by tilting the 

radiator relative to the local vertical at an angle equal to the local latitude. Of course the direction of tilt 

would be towards the lunar equator. 

As will be shown in section IV.B of this paper, placing the reactor below ground level for permanent 

power plant installations will permit the lunar soil to provide some of the neutron and gamma shielding 

requirement for the energy conversion and radiator sub-systems. In addition, an exclusion zone of up to 

2 km radial distance from the reactor is advisable for human crew personnel. Maintenance and repairs 

within the exclusion zone will need to be carried out by remotely controlled devices or autonomous 

robots. The aluminized sheet mentioned above, having a low solar absorptivity (near 0.12), would replace 

the high lunar surface absorptivity, α, in the vicinity of the radiator which may be as high as 0.9. Since 

accumulation of lunar dust on the reflective cover would reduce its effectiveness, attention will have to be 

paid to preventing transport of lunar material onto the cover by robots or crew. This can be done by 

keeping one or two “maintenance” robots permanently positioned on the cover, near its edge, so that no 

crossing of the lunar soil-to-cover boundary is necessary. 

It is this high solar absorptivity which leads to the high lunar day sink temperatures for a vertical 

radiator when the sun is directly overhead. Based on the mathematical analysis of re-radiating and 

reflecting surfaces a chart as shown in figure 3 was constructed. Use of this chart allows accurate 

estimation of sink temperature as a function of “cover length-to-radiator height” ratio with radiator 

temperature as a parameter. 

Note that the lowest of the three radiator temperatures, namely 333 K, would be impossible without 

the cover, since the sink temperature is already at 334 K. Figure 3 also shows that for a radiator height of 

1 m a cover with about 6 m on each side would be sufficient to lower daytime sink temperatures to no 

more than 230 K. 

The reference value of ~340 K for a horizontal radiator with α/ε = 0.55 was confirmed by the 

TSCALC code (Juhasz, 2001, op cit.)to agree with the previously given value. Use of this code showed 

that the minimum lunar night sink temperatures would drop to 70 K. 

Figure 3.—Effect of cover length and radiator temperature on 

equivalent sink temperature (Bien and Guentert). Radiator equivalent sink temperature (Tsink, R) 

Radiator equivalent sink temperature (Tsink, K) 
NASA/TM—2006-214658 5

III. Closed Cycle Gas Turbine (CCGT) Power System Conceptual Designs 

As envisioned for purposes of this study, lunar power plants with nuclear reactor heat sources will 

likely evolve from a power output of a few tens of kWe for an early outpost to multi-megawatt levels to 

meet the needs of a lunar colony of 50 to 60 individuals productively engaged in mining and 

manufacturing operations. As discussed previously (Juhasz and Sawicki, 2005) power plant output would 

need to grow from about 20 kWe to multi megawatt levels. For this study, a CCGT lunar power plant, 

also referred to as a CBC (Closed Brayton Cycle) power system, was conceptually designed. The system 

configuration comprised a single high temperature gas reactor heat source typified by the pellet reactor 

proposed by Juhasz, El-Genk and Harper (1992). This reactor heats the He working fluid supplied to two 

5 MWe CBC units, each with their in-line flat plate radiator mounted vertically. Assuming the radiator 

being surrounded by the aluminized sheet discussed above day time sink temperature was set at 230 K. 

Using the BRMAPS code (Juhasz, 2005), a preliminary conceptual preliminary design of a lunar power 

plant was laid out by replacing the SP-100 thermoelectric conversion system with a CBC, as suggested in 

figure 4. It should be understood that this study represents the first step in a number of design iterations 

before final detailed design is arrived at. 

Figure 4.—Simplified baseline schematic for one of two parallel 5 MWe lunar 

He CBC turbo-alternators for a 10 MWe plant. Thermodynamic 

cycle efficiency = 24 percent. 

1500 K 

500 K

850 K 

982 K 

851 K 6.3 kg/sec 

(He) 

 1.98 MPa 

985 K 

2.0 MPa 

0.63 MPa

0.58 MPa 

10 kVAC—3 φ

24,000 rpm 
NASA/TM—2006-214658 6

IV. Mathematical Analysis of Closed Brayton Cycle 

The analysis of the proposed power system configuration was performed using the computational 

procedures contained in BRMAPS. This code contains a key sub-routine which performs a triple 

objective non-linear optimization procedure using generalized reduced gradient techniques to identify the 

three cycle operating conditions at which maximum thermodynamic efficiency, minimum radiator area, 

and minimum system mass are obtained. Salient theoretical expressions derived for determining the 

needed objective functions are given below: 

A. Thermodynamic Cycle Efficiency—ηth

With cycle efficiency defined as the net work output, i.e., the difference between turbine work and 

compressor work, divided by the cycle input thermal energy, the author derived the expression given in 

equation (2) for the CBC thermodynamic efficiency, ηth.

( ) ( ) C C R R

C

R

T

R R t

C

C

t

C

T

b

th

−Θ + Θ ε − ε

η

+ ε − + ⎟

⎟

⎠

⎞ ⎜

⎜

⎝

⎛

Θ

α −ε +ε η α −

⎟

⎟

⎠

⎞

⎜

⎜

⎝

⎛

η

Θ

αη − ⎟

⎟

⎠

⎞

⎜

⎜

⎝

⎛

Θ

Θ − η

η =

1 1 1 1 1 1

1

(2) 

where 

ΘC = (POC/PIC) (γ-1)/γ is the compressor pressure ratio parameter (3)

and 

ΘT = (PIT/POT) (γ-1)/γis the turbine pressure ratio parameter (4) 

Note that due to cycle pressure loss the “loss pressure ratio,” (PIT/POT)/(POC/PIC) ~0.94 for a regenerated 

cycle with εR = 0.95. For a non-regenerated cycle the ratio is in the 0.975 to 0.985 range. 

B. Radiating Area 

Similarly, an analysis of gas turbine working fluid being cooled in a radiator duct led to the following 

expression for radiating area required for a CBC space power system. 

( )

( )( )

( )( ) ⎥

⎥

⎦

⎤

⎢

⎢

⎣

⎡

⎥

⎦

⎤ ⎢

⎣

⎡

⎟

⎟

⎠

⎞

⎜

⎜

⎝

⎛ − ⋅ ⋅ − ⋅ − ⋅ +

− ⋅ + ⋅

⋅σ⋅ε⋅

+

⎟

⎟

⎠

⎞

⎜

⎜

⎝

⎛

−

− = ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ − −

s

wex

s

win

wex s win s

win s wex s

s wex s

win s

r

r p T

T

T

T

T T T T

T T T T

T T T

T T

h

A m C 1 1

3 4 4

4 4

ln 2 tan tan

4

1 ln 1  (5) 

Note that the actual radiator sail area depends on the view factor to the space background. Thus a flat 

plate surface radiating from both sides would have a sail area value equal to half that determined by 

equation (5). To allow for heat pipes damaged by micrometeoroids over mission life, the value for Ar was 

incremented by 20 percent. 

C. Power System Mass 

The individual masses for key sub-systems and components shown in figure 4 were determined by 

use of empirical mass models, taking into account certain theoretically derived parameters such as 
NASA/TM—2006-214658 7

working fluid mass flow rate, thermal power, fluid temperatures, and transport properties. Overall system 

mass then became the sum of component masses. The non-regenerated cycle working fluid was a pure He 

inert gas, heated to 1500 K turbine inlet temperature by a “High Temperature Gas Reactor” (HTGR) 

without an intervening liquid-to-gas heat exchanger. For the conditions shown, the turbo-alternator rotor 

speed was computed at 24,000 rpm. Cycle state points were computed for the minimum mass pressure 

ratios (near 3.5), assuming a polytropic efficiency of 0.90 for both, the compressor and turbine. The 

alternator is located on the same shaft with the compressor and turbine and it generates 3φ, 440 VAC 

current at 600 Hz, using three pole pairs. Due to this higher frequency, the mass of electrical components 

is significantly lower than for conventional power at 60 Hz. A detailed description of the 5 MWe turboalternator dimensions and operating conditions is shown in table 1. 

TABLE 1.—PARAMETERS OF 5 MWe HELIUM TURBO-COMPRESSOR (TC) 

TO BE COUPLED WITH A 3-PHASE 6 POLE AC (600 Hz) ALTERNATOR 

Parameter Compressor Turbine 

Average hub radius, m 0.13 0.262 

Casing diameter, m 0.33 0.7 

Axial stages 14 8 

Length, m 0.85 0.32 

Design rotor speed, rpm 24,000 

Total rotor shaft length, m 1.8 

He mass flowrate, kg/sec 6.25 

Compressor pressure ratio1 3.2 

Max. operating pressure, MPa 2.1 

Turbine inlet temp., K 1,500 

V. Conceptual 10 MW Power System With Twin 5 MWe 

Helium Turbo-Compressors 

Assuming that advances in high temperature materials technology (i.e., refractory metals and 

ceramics) will enable CCGT turbine inlet temperatures in the 1500 K range, a simple (non-regenerated) 

CBC cycle utilizing HTGR is proposed as shown in the simplified schematic featured in figure 4. The 

HTGR heat source could be of the “pellet bed” design as described by Juhasz et al. (1992). The energy 

conversion system utilizes multi-stage axial compressor and turbine technology adapted from aircraft 

engine or stationary power generating applications, but modified for pure helium (He) working fluid. 

Note that this non-regenerated cycle uses direct heating of the helium working fluid by a gas reactor and 

the heat rejection at the low temperature side of the schematic would be accomplished by passing the He 

working fluid directly over light weight Carbon-composite (Juhasz and Bloomfield, 1992) heat pipe 

evaporators which protrude into the flow passage of the radiator duct. The high emissivity C-C condenser 

sections of the heat pipes thermally communicate with high conductivity and emissivity radiating surfaces 

for the final step in the space heat rejection process. An important feature illustrated by the cycle 

schematic is the complete absence of any heat exchangers. This should lead to lower overall system mass 

and cost and to higher reliability due to the smaller number of series connected components, whose 

system reliability will be the product of the unit reliabilities of its series connected components. The price 

for the reduced mass and complexity is reduced cycle efficiency, which is 24 percent as shown in 

figure 4. This efficiency value is about 10 percent lower than could have been obtained with regenerated 

cycles of 95 percent effectiveness. But the mass of each of the two recuperators for the 5 MWe CBC 

loops would be about 6200 kg, for a total system mass increase of 12.4 tonnes. 

The conceptual design for a helium turbo-compressor rotor capable of supplying shaft power to a 

5 MWe alternator is shown in figure 5. The dimensions were obtained using a one dimensional analysis 
NASA/TM—2006-214658 8

Figure 5.—Helium turbo-compressor of 5 MWe power output. 

TABLE 2.—10 MW (2 PARALLEL 5MWe) BRAYTON SYSTEM COMPONENT MASS BREAKDOWN 

Component Component mass 

kg 

Component mass 

(Percent of mass) 

Reactor 8,540 19.8 

Instrument shield 8,180 19 0 

Source heat exchanger and pump 0 0 

Recuperator 0 0 

Turbo-alternators (2 total) 9,650 22.4 

Instrumentation and controls (2) 1,000 2.3 

Main radiator (2) 6,160 14.3 

Auxiliary radiators (2) 440 1.0 

Radiator HX, ducting, misc., and structure 9,200 21.2 

Total System Mass (kg) 43,170 100 

which was incorporated as a subroutine in the BRMAPS code suite. As a function of operating pressure 

level, working fluid mass flow rate, and molecular weight, this routine computes the number of stages, 

diameter, and rotor speed. Subroutine output results were validated against known dimensions and 

specifications for a 40,000 hp ground power machine using air working fluid in the compressor, and a 

mixture of air and combustion products of a hydrocarbon fuel as the working fluid for the turbine. Rotor 

dimensions and operational details are given in table 1 and the system mass distribution for major 

components and the overall mass for a 10 MWe lunar power plant are shown in table 2. The change of the 

working fluid molecular weight from 29 for air to 4 for He required that the flow passage area be 

decreased with an increase in the design speed and the number of axial stages in both the compressor and 

turbine. 

Note that a separate study focusing on the alternator armature rotor dynamics, including radial 

magnetic bearing suspension for a 1/6 G lunar environment will need to be conducted at a future date. It 

should be noted that magnetic bearings have been demonstrated to operate at over 800 K (Provenza et al. 
NASA/TM—2006-214658 9

2003) in 1 G earth gravity. The reduced lunar gravity environment should simplify magnetic suspension 

of the rotor. As already mentioned, the conceptual design of a 10 MWe lunar power plant would use two 

turbo-compressors, each sized to drive an alternator (not shown) at 5 MWe terminal output. The 

alternators could be mounted on the same or on adjacent platforms and connected to the turbine shaft by a 

coupling. Since each of the two turbo-alternator sets would be positioned on either side of the reactor heat 

source in an opposed configuration, their rotational moments of inertia would cancel each other. Thus 

unbalance torques transmitted to the mounting platform would be minimized or cancelled. With the rotor 

design speed of 24,000 rpm, the frequency of the generated 3 phase AC current will be 600 Hz for a six 

pole alternator. Terminal voltage could be 10 kVAC. 

VI. 10-Megawatt Lunar Power Plant Installation 

As discussed in a prior paper (Juhasz and Sawicki 2005), the base load power output could be 

enhanced by taking advantage of variations in the lunar equilibrium sink temperature in the immediate 

vicinity of the vertically oriented heat rejection radiator surfaces. With the reactor and conical frustum 

shield buried below the surface as shown in figure 6, dual turbo-alternator sets can be thermally integrated 

with a single reactor in a manner such that their vertically oriented radiators are “in-line” i.e., in a single 

plane, so that the radiating surfaces do not “see” each other, meaning that the view factor between them is 

zero. This configuration can be accomplished at a reasonable radiator size by using power generator 

modules to ~5 MWe with two “in-plane” turbo-alternator modules per heat source as indicated in 

figure 6, thus giving 10 MWe output for each power plant As shown, each of the two flat plate radiators 

with two sided heat rejection has a sail area of 1200 m2

, which translates into a 240 m length for a 5 m 

height. The heat pipe radiator design envisioned would utilize the thermo-siphon effect by positioning 

individual heat pipes so that their evaporator sections are at the bottom of the radiator. Thus the lunar 

gravity field would be harnessed to aid the return working fluid condensate from the condenser to the 

evaporator. 

 

Figure 6.—Section showing subsurface reactor installation supplying thermal input 

to dual 5 MWe gas turbines each equipped with a flat plate heat pipe radiator. 

Typ. Rad. 

Sail Area = 

1200 m2

 
NASA/TM—2006-214658 10

VII. Conclusions 

A lunar 10 MWe CBC power plant with a gas reactor heat source provided by two high efficiency 

5 MWe turbo-alternators each of which would require a radiator with a sail area of about 1200 m2

. At 5 m 

radiator height the length would be reduced to ~240 m in lieu of ~1500 m for a 30 MWe unit. As lunar 

bases evolve into colonies, each with a 10 MW power plant, electrical interconnection of these electrical 

energy sources into a power grid would be a logical next step. For permanent lunar colonies, capable of 

supporting several hundred humans engaged in lunar mining and manufacturing activities, a power 

generation concept comprising a number of multi- megawatt power plants is proposed. Terrestrial power 

grids containing a number of power generating sources could serve as a model for an integrated lunar 

power system, especially concerning proven techniques of synchronizing the three phase AC power 

output of several power plants. Power distribution to various loads could be accomplished using copper, 

or aluminum alloy wiring for the IOC configuration. However, as HTS (high temperature 

superconducting) technology is further developed, appropriate utilization of this technology based on 

either YBCO (yttrium-barium-cobalt) or BSCO (barium-strontium-cobalt) could lead to significant 

reductions in transmission line mass. 

References 

Bien, D.D., and Guentert D.C.: “A Method for Reducing the Equivalent Sink Temperature of a Vertically 

Oriented Radiator on the Lunar Surface,” NASA TM X-1729, Jan. 1969. 

Eckart, P. ed.: “The Lunar Base Handbook,” Mc Graw Hill Companies Inc., 1999. 

Juhasz, A.J.; and Bloomfield, H.S.: “Development of Lightweight Radiators for Lunar Based Power 

Systems,” NASA TM 106604, May, 1994. Presented at the 24th ICES, Friedrichshafen, Germany, 

June 20–23, 1994. 

Juhasz, A.J.; and Sawicki, J.T: “Lunar Surface Power Systems with Fission Reactor Heat Sources,” 

NASA/TM—2005-214003, November 2005. 

Juhasz, A.J., El – Genk, M.S., and Harper, W.B.: “Closed Brayton Cycle Power Systems with a High 

Temperature Pellet Bed Reactor Heat Source for NEP Applications,” NASA TM 105933, Oct. 1992. 

Juhasz, Albert J.: “An Analysis and Procedure for Determining Space Environmental Sink Temperatures 

with Selected Computational Results.” NASA/TM—2001-210063, Jan. 2001. 

Juhasz, A.J. “Analysis and Numerical Optimization of Gas Turbine Space Power Systems with Nuclear 

Fission Reactor Heat Sources” Doctoral Dissertation, Cleveland State University, May 25th, 2005. 

Zeilik, M. and Gaustad, J. “Astronomy—The Cosmic Perspective” 2nd Edition, John Wiley & Sons, 

1990. 

Provenza, A.J.; Montague, G.T.; Jansen, M.J.; Palazzolo, A.B.; Jansen, R.H. “High Temperature 

Characterization of a Radial Magnetic Bearing for Turbomachinery,” Proceedings of ASME/GTI 

Turbo Expo 2003, June 3 16–19, 2003, Atlanta, Ga., USA. 
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Davis Highway, Suite 1204, Arlington, VA 22202-4302, and to the Office of Management and Budget, Paperwork Reduction Project (0704-0188), Washington, DC 20503.

NSN 7540-01-280-5500 Standard Form 298 (Rev. 2-89)

Prescribed by ANSI Std. Z39-18

298-102

Form Approved

OMB No. 0704-0188

12b. DISTRIBUTION CODE

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Unclassified Unclassified

Technical Memorandum

Unclassified

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

John H. Glenn Research Center at Lewis Field

Cleveland, Ohio 44135–3191

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National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Washington, DC 20546–0001

Available electronically at http://gltrs.grc.nasa.gov

December 2006

NASA TM—2006-214658

AIAA–2006–4117

E–15789

WBS 22–973–90–01

16

Multi-Megawatt Gas Turbine Power Systems for Lunar Colonies

Albert J. Juhasz

Space nuclear power; Lunar power; Nuclear power plants

Unclassified -Unlimited

Subject Categories: 44, 37, and 59

Prepared for the Fourth International Energy Conversion Engineering Conference and Exhibit (IECEC) sponsored by

the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, San Diego, California, June 26–29, 2006. Responsible person,

Albert J. Juhasz, organization code RPT, 216–433–6134.

A concept for development of second generation 10 MWe prototype lunar power plant utilizing a gas cooled fission

reactor supplying heated helium working fluid to two parallel 5 MWe closed cycle gas turbines is presented. Such a

power system is expected to supply the energy needs for an initial lunar colony with a crew of up to 50 persons engaged

in mining and manufacturing activities. System performance and mass details were generated by an author developed

code (BRMAPS). The proposed pilot power plant can be a model for future plants of the same capacity that could be tied

to an evolutionary lunar power grid.