Bus Isolation and Transfer

Bus-Tie Contactor Network with Automatic Transfer Switch

The bus isolation and transfer network is a 20-kilogram switching assembly of sixteen bus-tie contactors rated at 200 A that isolates faulted bus segments and transfers electrical loads without power interruption. Operating in the lunar environment requires packaging the latching contactors and ceramic pre-charge resistors within hermetic enclosures to prevent failure from ambient vacuum and abrasive regolith dust. An automatic transfer switch executes cross-bus transfers in under 10 milliseconds while consuming 5 watts, supported by hardwired safety logic that bypasses software during emergencies and pyrotechnic disconnects engineered for catastrophic isolation across a 25-year operational lifetime.

Network of bus-tie contactors that isolate faulted bus segments and transfer loads to healthy buses without interruption.