South Pole Utilities and Data InfraStructure (SPUDIS) on the Moon

This paper introduces the lunar South Pole Utilities and Data InfraStructure (SPUDIS); the acronym honors the memory of the renowned lunar scientist, Dr Paul Spudis. SPUDIS builds on the concept of a solar power infrastructure around Shackleton Crater (SC). In contrast to other concepts of power/energy on the Moon, its fundamental idea is to have uninterrupted power available to assets in the area. This can be achieved by placing solar power towers (SPOTs) - either reflecting sunlight or converting solar to electrical energy and transmitting by laser/microwave - in such positions that at least one tower is seeing the sun at all times and that power can be transmitted between them. Interconnected in this fashion, SPOTs form the backbone of an infrastructure ensuring uninterrupted power year-round. In its mature phase, SPUDIS would extend for tens of kilometers around the lunar South Pole. The fundamental concept is of continuous, uninterrupted power. The infrastructure would provide sunlight for successive missions, both robotic and human, for a variety of customers. Very importantly for a future lunar economy and to reduce the cost of exploration, SPUDIS lowers barriers to entry to allow exploration with robots and equipment with little thermal protection, as the robots would receive heat and illumination from the infrastructure, and thus operate in a mild environment, as opposed to the natural temperature extremes of sunlight and darkness. Instead of incurring a cost of thermal protection up front when building the rover, e.g., by including an RTG, the customers would pay the owners of the infrastructure. As a result, cost would be deferred until a successful landing is confirmed, and would be incremental as the mission progresses, thus correlating with the actual duration of the mission. Moreover, there could be concurrent and cooperative cost sharing, and multiple owners of towers could develop sub-nets that connect to a grid network, each providing additional value to all. SPUDIS offers a paradigm shift, a new business model, in which smaller payments are made incrementally and ‘as you go,’ rather than paying a large amount before successful landing, all of which would be at risk. The interconnected SPOTs in SPUDIS are placed at locations chosen so at least one sees the sun and at least one sees Earth. The towers may change position to adapt to better visibility of the Sun (for received energy) and Earth (for optimal communications), as the Sun circles over at the horizon. The paper also introduces a lunar survey system that may be used for land allocation purposes, in the context of a lunar economy. Its Initial Point is the South Pole, its Principal Meridian, formed by the Moon's Prime Meridian and Anti-Meridian (180°E Meridian), referred here as the Shackleton Meridian, and the Base Line, formed by the 90°E Meridian & 90°W Meridian (and not the Equator as in the Rectangular System on Earth). Operational plots could be easily divided, creating cadastral maps, and referred to in a simplified way, as is done on Earth.