Electric Generation from Heat

(I came up with this idea on the early days October 2024)

A new method of generating electricity using thermionic emission is proposed. The idea is collecting potentially elevated electrons using thermionic emission, quantum tunneling and controlled electric field. The system composes of 6 layers and a special electronic circuitry.

Overall Design: The heat source is thermally insulated on the sides and on the top by the electric generating system. The main source of heat dissipation for the system should be through the emission of electrons.

Layer 1: The purpose of this layer is to form the mechanical base of the electric generating system. It should be good conductor of heat and electricity. Copper or Aluminum can be used for this layer. The ground potential of the system is connected to this layer.

Layer 2: The purpose of this layer is to emit electrons that will determine the electric generation capacity of the system. A low work function metal should be used. Sodium or Potassium can be used. This layer should be as thin as possible. This allows higher emission. These metals are not good at heat transfer so a thicker layer would be less effective.

Layer 3: The purpose of this layer is to form a barrier between the electron emission layer and the electron collecting layer. The thickness of this layer should allow a quantum tunneling of electrons. This reduces the barrier for the electrons to reach the electric collecting layer. Oxide of the electric collecting layer can be used. Aluminum would be a better candidate than copper due to its oxide properties.

Layer 4: The purpose of this layer is to collect the electrons emitted by the emission layer. This layer generates the electricity. This layer is connected to the electric output via a transistor to allow controlled one-way flow of electrons. Due to its oxide properties Aluminum can be used instead of copper.

Layer 5: The purpose of this layer is to form a barrier between the electron collecting layer and the electric field generating layer. This layer can be several nanometers thick. Its thickness would determine the required electric field for electron acceleration. Due to its oxide properties Aluminum can be used instead of copper.

Layer 6: The purpose of this layer is to form an electric field to accelerate the electrons emitted to the collecting layer. The electric field will not be generated using a constant positive voltage but a sinusoidal waveform which fluctuates between positive and negative voltages compared to the ground potential of the system. During the positive cycle of the waveform the electrons are accelerated toward the collecting layer and the output transistor stays open and lets no output current. During zero crossover the output transistor closes and lets electrons flow outside of the collecting layer. The negative cycle of the waveform enhances the electron flow from the electron collecting layer. During the second zero crossover the output transistor opens and the cycle repeats.

A New Approach To Lunar Landers

The latest lunar landers are a small copy of the Apollo lunar lander. I thought about improving their design.

My lunar lander design is composed of two parts. At the bottom there will be the collapsible propellent tank and at the top there will be the lunar explorer. The lander will use acetylene as fuel and nitrous oxide as oxidizer because they are self-pressurizing due to their relatively high vapor pressures. The engine will have aerospike nozzle which is more compact than a vacuum optimized bell-shaped nozzle. There will be at least four fixed engines for braking and maneuvering instead of a single gimbled engine. This adds redundancy. The weight of the explorer and the engine thrust will crush the tank walls to pressurize the propellent.  This eliminates the need of turbopumps and pressurizing helium tanks. Additionally, their collapsible structure cushions the landing impact.

The lunar explorer will have springy legs which function like spiral wheels. During descent they will be curled inside using the wire tensioners. After landing the wire will be loosened to expand the springy spiral legs. (As seen on the image). Some of the benefits of the springy legs: They can be used to lessen the landing impact. If the lander lands in an awkward position, the legs would push the explorer away from the lander and frees it. When the legs extend, they act like a high radius wheel that help to go over obstacles. They can be used to jump over obstacles. They can be used to climb over the crater walls.

As a result, the lunar explorer will explore the lunar surface with all the necessary scientific sensors and machinery onboard. As long as the sun charges its batteries, it can keep exploring larger areas including the basis of the craters.

Rocket Design for Distant Missions

There are different trajectories for space rockets to accomplish different tasks. Deploying satellites to Low Earth Orbit is the easiest and we see weekly launches to that orbit. Geostationary Orbits are harder to achieve and mainly utilized by TV broadcasting satellites.  Much harder are the lunar and planetary trajectories.

Here are some values for Falcon 9, showing the cost of reusing a rocket as reduced payload.

Maximum payload to LEO when expended is 22,800 kg (rocket used once) and 17,500 kg when landing on drone ship (first stage recovered, second stage used once).

Maximum payload to GTO (used to transfer GEO satellites) when expanded is 8,300 kg (rocket used once), when landing on drone ship is 5,500 kg (first stage recovered, second stage used once) and when landing at launch site is 3,500 kg (first stage recovered, second stage used once).

Maximum payload to Mars is 4,020 kg (rocket used once)

As seen from the figures, the potential payload lost due to reusing the first stage is quite high for GTO launches and the rockets are used once for more distant missions.

Falcon 9 first stage with no propellent is 22,200 kg and 433,100 kg with propellent. The second stage with no propellent is 4,000 kg and 111,500 kg with propellent. As you can see, the weight of the rocket is much smaller compared to the total propellent weight. This ratio gets even better for bigger rockets.

If we want to explore the moon and beyond, we should develop cheaper (while they will be used once) and bigger rockets (cost per kg payload decreases). Therefore, usage of stainless steel casing and liquid methane as fuel are logical choices. At the end of the day a rocket is just a large container of rocket propellent with a tiny payload.

Sodium Polytungstate (SPT) Space Cleaner

As a common intuition I thought about using laser pulses to deorbit space debris. Which is an idea well thought about. However, after reading this article Heat Accumulation in Laser-Based Removal of Space Debris I thought about alternative ways of cleaning space debris.

Sodium metatungstate (H₂Na₆O₄₀W₁₂) also referred to as sodium polytungstate (SPT) is widely used to produce "heavy liquid", due to its very high solubility in water (max. density 3.1 g/cm³). Its heavy density is ideal for momentum transfer for deorbiting. Aqueous SPT is non-toxic, non-flammable and has low viscosity.

I propose CubeSats filled with SPT to deorbit small space debris that are dangerous and hard to track. SPT can be jettisoned from the satellite with proper aiming to accelerate the space debris towards the Earth's atmosphere where it would be burned out before touching the ground. SPT can also be used as the cold propellent for the Cleaner Satellite. Simplifying the CubeSat design and reducing the cost. The Cleaner Sat should not contain heat resistant parts such as carbon fiber. When its SPT finishes, it should deorbit itself to Earth and completely burn out in the atmosphere. CubeSats, due to their compact size, can be deployed in large numbers by a single space launch and clean different regions in parallel.

Radium-Tritium Liquid Rocket

Orano Med has laid the foundations for its Advanced Thorium Extraction Facility plant Haute-Vienne, western France. This facility is the world's first industrial plant dedicated to the production of thorium-228, a precursor of lead-212, for radioligand therapies. Therefore, there is an industrial Pb-212 production technology which also produces Radium-224 during the long process.

Radium-224 can be used as an additive in a liquid hydrogen and oxygen rocket. To initiate alpha decay of the Radium-224, I propose to use Tritium or Deuterium as hydrogen source. The heat, pressure and Beta decays inside the combustion chamber may initiate an Alpha decay of Radium which yields energy, Helium (alpha particle) and Radon-220 gases. Therefore, higher temperature and pressure is created inside the combustion chamber compared to standard hydrogen oxygen reaction. Additionally, Helium and higher massed Radon-220 gas is released to enhance the thrust. No solid residue inside the combustion chamber after radioactive decay of Radium. All materials entering the combustion chamber is emitted as hot gases from the nozzle. This would yield a very high specific impulse that is required for the second stage of a rocket to transfer load to GEO, Moon or the planets. Additionally, the alpha decay is initiated by the combustion of hydrogen and oxygen and is not a chain reaction. Therefore, the rocket engine can be started and stopped many times which is a requirement for long space travel.

Lunar Communications Relay and Navigation Systems (LCRNS)

NASA's Lunar Communications Relay and Navigation Systems (LCRNS) project is an initiative aimed at enabling a robust communication and navigation infrastructure around the Moon. Establishing a network of communication relay satellites in lunar orbit will enable continuous and reliable communication between Earth and lunar missions, even in locations where the Earth is not directly visible from the Moon. Today (March 3rd 2025) 2 documents were published for the project "Testset for Cis-Lunar Communications and Navigation" and "Onboard Processing for LunaNet Data Services"

The Lunar Base (Compton–Belkovich Thorium Anomaly) I proposed is on the far side of the Moon, the possible water deposits lay on the South Pole. Therefore, LCRNS is a prerequisite for future Moon and Mars missions. Wish the system was developed by an international consortium rather than NASA alone.

LCRNS Project website

Compton–Belkovich Thorium Anomaly

The Compton–Belkovich Thorium Anomaly is a volcanic complex on the far side of the Moon. It was found by a gamma-ray spectrometer in 1998 and is an area of concentrated thorium.

Space exploration beyond moon requires nuclear propulsion systems such as Radium Rocket Engine, I had proposed earlier. Radium can be obtained from Thorium. The Thorium anomaly on the moon is a perfect location for a Lunar Base. As seen on the image below, there is a hotspot with 10 ppm ore concentration, which is considered a high-grade deposit. It would require much less energy to extract Thorium which would generate more energy to mine more. 

A lunar base at the Thorium anomaly would have the potential to generate electric even at lunar nights. Additionally, byproduct of Thorium 228 decay is Radium 224 which is an ideal nuclear rocket fuel. This fuel can be used to thrust the flying moon explorer robots. Therefore, much larger areas can be explored on the surface. 

Lunar Thorium anomaly would be a perfect re-fueling base for the rockets returning from the moon to the earth and planetary exploration missions.