Aurora: Lunar Surface Power Plant

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.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Space Architecture

Grantor

University of Houston

Year dc:date.issued

2026

Author dc:creator

• Amirova, Regina

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Bannova, Olga

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• Bell, Larry
• Toups, Larry

• Nuclear power plant
• Fission Power on Moon
• NASA
• Space architecture

Language dc:language.iso

English

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/10657/21517

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:uh-ir.tdl.org:10657/21517