Radiator design for a SP-100 lunar surface Brayton power system

A conceptual design for a heat pipe radiator for a lunar Brayton power system is presented. This system is part of an evolutionary scenario leading to a permanent human presence. It uses near‐term SP‐100 technology with Brayton conversion and requires minimal human intervention for setup and operation. This radiator system was characterized, modelled, and optimized for mass and size. To achieve this, numerous heat pipe and radiator parameters were varied within the constraints imposed by the overall power system. More than one type of heat pipe was used to reject heat over the desired temperature range. The impact of integration, tradeoffs, and deployment are presented. Finally, concerns with some aspects of this radiator designed are discussed.