Bulk Wall Penetrations
MMOD-Protected Cable/Pipe Penetrations Through Bulk Wall
Bulk wall penetrations are sealed, reinforced pass-throughs that route cables, pipes, and waveguides across habitat shielding walls. Because cutouts create primary structural weak points against micrometeoroid and orbital debris impacts, each breach is shielded with Whipple-grade caps, stainless reinforcement, and labyrinth geometries. Design layouts minimize penetrations to 20 standardized, hermetic flange assemblies with a total mass of 40 kg. To endure lunar operational demands without power consumption, the hardware uses long-life seals engineered for a 50-year lifetime and a 500,000-hour mean time between failures, built with access for robotic maintenance and periodic inspection.
MMOD-protected cable, pipe, and waveguide penetrations through the bulk wall, maintaining shield integrity at every passage.
Purpose
MMOD-protected cable, pipe, and waveguide penetrations through the bulk wall, maintaining shield integrity at every passage.
Context
Child of L2-MMD-BULK within the Lunar Ark system
Principles
- ▸Labyrinth + Whipple-grade caps over each penetration
- ▸Penetration density minimised in design
- ▸Cable/pipe runs consolidated via standardised flanges
- ▸Each penetration inspected periodically
- ▸Hermetic seal + MMOD cap combined
Typical implementations
- ▸ISS pressure boundary penetration heritage
- ▸Aerospace bulkhead penetrations
- ▸Submarine pressure hull penetrations
Lunar considerations
- ▸Penetrations are weak points — minimised and protected
- ▸Long-life seals at each penetration
- ▸Robotic-accessible for L1-MNT
Specifications
Functional
| primary function | MMOD-protected cable, pipe, and waveguide penetrations through the bulk wall, maintaining shield integrity at every passage. |
| penetration count | 20 |
Physical
| mass kg | 40 |
| materials | Whipple-grade caps, Hermetic flanges, Stainless reinforcement |
| vacuum compatibility | True |
Operational
| power consumption w | 0 |
| thermal range c | -40, 70 |
| lifetime years | 50 |
| mtbf hours | 500000 |
Interfaces
Provides
- Protected cable/pipe passages
Requires
- Bulkhead foundation
Cite this entry
Lunar Ark Codex. "Bulk Wall Penetrations" (L3-MMD-BULK-PASS). Retrieved 10 September 2026, from https://lunarark.com/entry/L3-MMD-BULK-PASS
Licensed CC-BY-SA 4.0. You may reuse and adapt this entry with attribution, under the same licence.