A prototype is a preliminary model of something. Projects that offer physical products need to show backers documentation of a working prototype. This gallery features photos, videos, and other visual documentation that will give backers a sense of what’s been accomplished so far and what’s left to do. Though the development process can vary for each project, these are the stages we typically see:
Proof of Concept
Explorations that test ideas and functionality.
Functional Prototype
Demonstrates the functionality of the final product, but looks different.
Appearance Prototype
Looks like the final product, but is not functional.
Design Prototype
Appearance and function match the final product, but is made with different manufacturing methods.
Production Prototype
Appearance, function, and manufacturing methods match the final product.
Prototype Gallery
These photos and videos provide a detailed look at this project’s development.
We're designing a spacecraft for sustainable exploration of the solar system. This spacecraft propels itself with water--more precisely, by electrolyzing on-board water to create hydrogen and oxygen gas, a highly efficient fuel and oxidizer. Since water turns out to be common throughout the solar system, it can be readily refueled on the moon, on an asteroid, on Mars...
Although the Cislunar Explorer will be the first water-powered spacecraft, it will not be the last. To ensure this, we want to make our design open-source. Its technical details will be posted online, for anyone to build. You can follow our progress here: http://cislunarexplorers.wordpress.com/. Soon, we'll have a Github repository for all schematics and parts lists.
This technology produces very efficient thrust: we've already demonstrated a specific impulse of over 300 seconds, which is one of the best-performing propellants available for small spacecraft. And even though some other technologies, like ion propulsion or solar sails, can offer higher specific impulse, the mass of a complete spacecraft with our technology is so low that electrolysis propulsion ultimately outperforms every other solution we've looked into. That's why this water-based spacecraft will be able to enter lunar orbit.
If you get a kick out of the technical details, have a look at the cislunar explorers blog linked above. Remember, all these plans and software will be freely available online if we reach our funding goal.
We've been developing this technology since about 2011, and we've put plenty of resources into it. Now, we're ready to demonstrate an entire spacecraft based on this technique. We have built and extensively tested all of our subsystems, and are currently integrating them into the hull of our engineering unit (more than just a prototype; this is like a "dress rehearsal" for building the flight units)! If the campaign is successful, we hope to demonstrate this technology on a NASA-sponsored launch in 2018: with sufficient backing, our Cislunar Explorer spacecraft has a chance to fly as part of NASA's CubeQuest challenge, a competition for small spacecraft in lunar orbit.
If this spacecraft is the first to enter lunar orbit, our team wins a prize. But even more important, we'll demonstrate that this propulsion technology can enable future planetary-exploration missions.
Our team consists of students, faculty, and staff at Cornell University and members of the National Space Society. Sharing discoveries and promoting the advancement of space technology for the good of all is the team's DNA. With your help, we'll take an important step toward democratizing space exploration.
Electrolysis Propulsion Operation
Thermal Vacuum Chamber, used to test our hardware in the extreme environments of space.
3D Printed Titanium electrolysis propulsion thruster prototype
Our shiny new spacecraft bus (latest version just arrived 9/15)!
The splitting of our two 3U spacecraft from each other.
Optical Navigation Geometry Example
Optical Navigation Cameras
Optical Navigation Image Examples
Raspberry Pi usage
Risks and challenges
Our team has experience designing and building spacecraft that have flown successfully, But this spacecraft is new. So, there will be a first time for many technologies on board. Your contribution will not only enable us to build and launch the spacecraft, it will also help us reduce the risks to the mission by enabling more thorough testing, higher-quality components such as top-of-the-line solar cells, more capable ground station facilities...and the list goes on.
Here are some risks as we see them now:
- The mission consists of two spacecraft that separate from each other with a spring. This clever technique gives each some angular momentum to stiffen the attitude (keeping each pointed in a desired direction), and it helps keep the water pressed up against one end of the fuel tank so that the engine ingests only combustible gases. But if this separation doesn't work, we'll have to expend some propellant to spin up the two spacecraft, which eats into the propellant budget for the mission.
- The tanks or the plumbing might leak. We hope not. We'll test it. But if it does, there's no way to refuel the spacecraft in this demonstration. Fortunately, we have two spacecraft. Only one needs to work!
- Communications may be too infrequent to execute the maneuvers we need, or electronics may fail because of radiation. Again, we've designed around this possibility, but it's always a risk. Again, with two spacecraft, everything about this mission is redundant--i.e., it tolerates at least one failure of any single item.
- The optical navigation may encounter unexpected lighting conditions, and if so, the mission will take longer because successful thruster firings require that the spacecraft know its position accurately.
These and many other technical issues are difficult challenges. But that's the nature of space technology. By trying this out, we hope to eliminate enough risks that this technology can be a viable option for future space exploration--by anyone!
We will include a 140 character message (ASCII only) of the backer's choice in the memory of both the two Cislunar Explorer spacecraft. They will carry this message for their entire mission, and the message will reside there for as long as the spacecraft remain in space (which might be thousands of years).
You'll have the option for this message to be kept private or for it to appear online at the same site as the spacecraft schematics and software.
As a thank-you, our collaborator, the National Space Society, will give you an introductory membership. This amount includes taxes and fees associated with the Kickstarter campaign. Then, if the Cislunar Explorers mission receives NASA's CubeQuest Challenge prize, and the prize we receive covers the costs of the project, this amount will be used by the NSS for its STEM and space advocacy efforts (so, if we reach the moon, you're giving twice!)
At this reward level there are two possibilities: (1) If the mission fails before reaching lunar orbit, we'll send you a T Shirt with an image of the spacecraft on the back and "Cislunar Explorer" on the front. (2) If the spacecraft reaches the moon, we'll include at least some form of data, such as the date the spacecraft enters lunar orbit or--ideally--a low-resolution picture of the moon from the on-board visual-navigation system.
We will transmit a 140 character message (ASCII only) of the backer's choice toward the two Cislunar Explorer spacecraft at a point in the mission of our choosing (and we'll let you know ahead of time). This message will continue on past the moon into interplanetary, and then interstellar, space. Say hi to those nice folks on Proxima Centauri. This reward includes all lower-level rewards as well!
You'll have the option for this message to be kept private or for it to appear online at the same site as the spacecraft schematics and software.
We will include a 140 character message (ASCII only) of the backer's choice in the memory of both the two Cislunar Explorer spacecraft. If they survive long enough, at least one of them will transmit this message back to Earth on a UHF frequency (roughly 437Mhz). It can be picked up on HAM radio equipment. This reward also includes all lower-level rewards!
You'll have the option for this message to be kept private or for it to appear online at the same site as the spacecraft schematics and software.
Send your favorite water to space! It can help propel the prototype Cislunar Explorer spacecraft to the moon. A few drops from a sacred spring? A memento from a glacier from your Alaska trip? A sample from that fountain on campus where you proposed? L.A. tap? Provide us one gram (i.e. one cubic centimeter) of water of your choice. Although the propulsion system is very robust and doesn't need particularly clean water, we'll filter it and refine it as necessary to make sure the mission is successful.
