{"id":{"repo_id":"houston","oai_identifier":"oai:uh-ir.tdl.org:10657/21517"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/houston/oai:uh-ir.tdl.org:10657/21517","repository":{"repo_id":"houston","name":"University of Houston","base_url":"https://uh-ir.tdl.org/server/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"Aurora: Lunar Surface Power Plant","abstract":"One of NASA’s Lunar Infrastructure goals is to develop an incremental lunar power generation and distribution system that is evolvable to support continuous robotic/human operation and is capable of scaling to global power utilization and industrial power levels. Achieving this mission will require a deep understanding of the foundational requirements that will guide the design and planning sequence of the lunar power system. This research is focused on the infrastructure design of a lunar surface power plant, addressing the structural and civil systems required to support a nuclear power generation system, as well as the construction sequence and overall mission architecture. The study covers key design challenges, including seismic-resistant foundation design adapted from terrestrial friction-bearing systems, non-pressurized shielding using catenary-ruled structures fabricated from lunar regolith, and a five-phase concept of operations for deployment, construction, operation, and decommissioning. Using a top-down systems engineering framework, the research develops practical design guidelines for infrastructure components suited to the lunar environment. The proposed approach uses in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) of lunar regolith to minimize mass transported from Earth while meeting structural, thermal, and safety requirements for long-duration lunar missions.","abstract_html":"One of NASA’s Lunar Infrastructure goals is to develop an incremental lunar power generation and distribution system that is evolvable to support continuous robotic/human operation and is capable of scaling to global power utilization and industrial power levels. Achieving this mission will require a deep understanding of the foundational requirements that will guide the design and planning sequence of the lunar power system. This research is focused on the infrastructure design of a lunar surface power plant, addressing the structural and civil systems required to support a nuclear power generation system, as well as the construction sequence and overall mission architecture. The study covers key design challenges, including seismic-resistant foundation design adapted from terrestrial friction-bearing systems, non-pressurized shielding using catenary-ruled structures fabricated from lunar regolith, and a five-phase concept of operations for deployment, construction, operation, and decommissioning. Using a top-down systems engineering framework, the research develops practical design guidelines for infrastructure components suited to the lunar environment. The proposed approach uses in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) of lunar regolith to minimize mass transported from Earth while meeting structural, thermal, and safety requirements for long-duration lunar missions.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Amirova, Regina"],"institution":"University of Houston","degree_name":"Master of Science","degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":"Space Architecture","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["Bannova, Olga"],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":["Bell, Larry","Toups, Larry"],"year":2026,"date_issued":"2026-05","date_published":"2026-05","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:32:54Z","subjects":["Nuclear power plant","Fission Power on Moon","NASA","Space architecture"],"languages":["English"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://hdl.handle.net/10657/21517","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Bannova, Olga"]},{"key":"dc:contributor.committeemember","label":"Committee Member","values":["Bell, Larry","Toups, Larry"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Amirova, Regina"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2026-07-14T17:11:44Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2026-05"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Space Architecture"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science"]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["University of Houston"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Nuclear power plant","Fission Power on Moon","NASA","Space architecture"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language.iso","label":"Language (ISO)","values":["English"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["https://hdl.handle.net/10657/21517"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["One of NASA’s Lunar Infrastructure goals is to develop an incremental lunar power generation and distribution system that is evolvable to support continuous robotic/human operation and is capable of scaling to global power utilization and industrial power levels. Achieving this mission will require a deep understanding of the foundational requirements that will guide the design and planning sequence of the lunar power system. This research is focused on the infrastructure design of a lunar surface power plant, addressing the structural and civil systems required to support a nuclear power generation system, as well as the construction sequence and overall mission architecture. The study covers key design challenges, including seismic-resistant foundation design adapted from terrestrial friction-bearing systems, non-pressurized shielding using catenary-ruled structures fabricated from lunar regolith, and a five-phase concept of operations for deployment, construction, operation, and decommissioning. Using a top-down systems engineering framework, the research develops practical design guidelines for infrastructure components suited to the lunar environment. The proposed approach uses in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) of lunar regolith to minimize mass transported from Earth while meeting structural, thermal, and safety requirements for long-duration lunar missions."]},{"key":"dc:format.mimetype","label":"Dc Format Mimetype","values":["application/pdf"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Aurora: Lunar Surface Power Plant"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.advisor":["Bannova, Olga"],"dc:contributor.committeemember":["Bell, Larry","Toups, Larry"],"dc:creator":["Amirova, Regina"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2026-07-14T17:11:44Z"],"dc:date.issued":["2026-05"],"dc:description.abstract":["One of NASA’s Lunar Infrastructure goals is to develop an incremental lunar power generation and distribution system that is evolvable to support continuous robotic/human operation and is capable of scaling to global power utilization and industrial power levels. Achieving this mission will require a deep understanding of the foundational requirements that will guide the design and planning sequence of the lunar power system. This research is focused on the infrastructure design of a lunar surface power plant, addressing the structural and civil systems required to support a nuclear power generation system, as well as the construction sequence and overall mission architecture. The study covers key design challenges, including seismic-resistant foundation design adapted from terrestrial friction-bearing systems, non-pressurized shielding using catenary-ruled structures fabricated from lunar regolith, and a five-phase concept of operations for deployment, construction, operation, and decommissioning. Using a top-down systems engineering framework, the research develops practical design guidelines for infrastructure components suited to the lunar environment. The proposed approach uses in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) of lunar regolith to minimize mass transported from Earth while meeting structural, thermal, and safety requirements for long-duration lunar missions."],"dc:format.mimetype":["application/pdf"],"dc:identifier.uri":["https://hdl.handle.net/10657/21517"],"dc:language.iso":["English"],"dc:subject":["Nuclear power plant","Fission Power on Moon","NASA","Space architecture"],"dc:title":["Aurora: Lunar Surface Power Plant"],"dc:type":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Space Architecture"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science"],"thesis:institution_name":["University of Houston"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:32:54Z"}