Design of a Mass Driver System Concept Using Open Source Principles

Abstract

The open source software (OSS) development process has proven capable of producing high quality software products, like the Linux operating system and Apache web server, with low development costs and low risk. This paper reports on a project attempting to adapt OSS development principles to the design of a mass driver system capable of transporting construction material from Earth surface to orbit as a series of small material packages. Recent investigations have concluded that gun launch to space (GLTS) of individual, small payloads is possible. This project is evaluating the benefits of gun launching a series of small payloads that exploit the slip-stream effect to reduce atmospheric drag. The project is attempting to use only OSS or commonly available programs, such as PhpProjekt, Cmap Tools and Microsoft Office, as the tools to collaborate and develop the mass driver system. A spreadsheet has been programmed to evaluate the design parameters of a material package stream. The preliminary evaluation of the material package stream suggests the system is too productive, that is the mass transfer rate is too large; however the evaluation process is not complete. All the results and materials related to the project can be accessed at www.massdriver.com.