Emergency Bus
Last-Resort Bus for CRY, BEAC, and Safety Monitors
The emergency bus is a 10-kilogram, hardware-isolated power distribution line that supplies 100 watts at 28 volts to critical Lunar Ark loads upon the complete loss of primary and essential buses. Constructed with 316L stainless steel bus bars, the system routes power exclusively to cryogenic preservation cryocoolers, 2oo3 safety monitors, and an emergency broadcast beacon. To survive structural or total system failure across decades of isolated lunar operation, the bus eliminates software dependencies through hardware-only routing, drawing power from an independent radioisotope thermoelectric generator and supercapacitor reservoir rated for a 100-year lifetime.
Hardware-isolated emergency bus that survives even essential-bus loss — feeds only cryogenic preservation, emergency beacon, and 2oo3 safety monitors.
Purpose
Hardware-isolated emergency bus that survives even essential-bus loss — feeds only cryogenic preservation, emergency beacon, and 2oo3 safety monitors.
Context
Child of L2-PDM-BUS within the Lunar Ark system
Principles
- ▸Hardware-only isolation (no software dependency)
- ▸Powered by independent reserves (small RTG + supercap)
- ▸Survives main + essential bus failure
- ▸Load list: L1-CRY cryocoolers, L3-COM-BEAC, L3-ESS-MGMT-SAFE
- ▸Active during catastrophic Ark failure modes
Typical implementations
- ▸Spacecraft emergency power heritage (Apollo lifeboat concept)
- ▸Submarine emergency power systems
- ▸NASA Power Management & Distribution emergency provisions
Lunar considerations
- ▸Hardware-only path eliminates cyber/SW common-cause failure
- ▸Independent RTG sized for decades-long operation
- ▸Beacon survives even total Ark structural failure
Specifications
Functional
| primary function | Hardware-isolated emergency bus that survives even essential-bus loss — feeds only cryogenic preservation, emergency beacon, and 2oo3 safety monitors. |
| bus voltage v | 28 |
| capacity w | 100 |
| isolation | Hardware only |
Physical
| mass kg | 10 |
| materials | Independent RTG feed, Supercap reservoir, 316L SS bus bars |
| vacuum compatibility | True |
Operational
| power consumption w | 0 |
| thermal range c | -40, 70 |
| lifetime years | 100 |
| mtbf hours | 1000000 |
Interfaces
Provides
- Last-resort cryo cooling
- Beacon power augmentation
- Safety monitor always-on
Requires
- Independent RTG primary source
- Supercap holdover
Cite this entry
Lunar Ark Codex. "Emergency Bus" (L3-PDM-BUS-EMER). Retrieved 10 September 2026, from https://lunarark.com/entry/L3-PDM-BUS-EMER
Licensed CC-BY-SA 4.0. You may reuse and adapt this entry with attribution, under the same licence.