Ralf.Brown@B.GP.CS.CMU.EDU (03/09/89)
In article <330@electro.UUCP>, ignac@electro.UUCP (Ignac Kolenko) writes: }also, why can't the u.s. send up a duplicate of Skylab?? like, if they }did it once, why can't they do it again?? imagine, there would be no need }to re-engineer a new space station, since they already had one design that }appeared to work correctly. and according to the above quoted article, }the u.s. would have the largest space station in orbit again!!! :-) Except we'd first have to re-engineer the Saturn V*, which is not too easy, as was discussed in detail here a while ago. Also, I think the addition of the next expansion module to Mir will bring its volume up over the volume of Skylab (if it isn't already). [*] Skylab was a modified upper stage of a Saturn V, outfitted with life support, etc. -- UUCP: {ucbvax,harvard}!cs.cmu.edu!ralf -=-=-=- Voice: (412) 268-3053 (school) ARPA: ralf@cs.cmu.edu BIT: ralf%cs.cmu.edu@CMUCCVMA FIDO: Ralf Brown 1:129/31 Disclaimer? I claimed something? You cannot achieve the impossible without attempting the absurd.
henry@utzoo.uucp (Henry Spencer) (03/10/89)
In article <1989Mar8.081925.26615@cs.rochester.edu> dietz@cs.rochester.edu (Paul Dietz) writes: >... What, in particular, should we learn from the observation that >even with a launcher 4 or 5 times cheaper than the shuttle (Proton), >they have a space station only a fraction the size of Skylab? ... Probably that they just haven't got around to launching the rest of it yet. The US ("international") space station will also be smaller than Skylab. (By internal volume, based on the last numbers I heard, which admittedly are pretty old.) -- Welcome to Mars! Your | Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology passport and visa, comrade? | uunet!attcan!utzoo!henry henry@zoo.toronto.edu
henry@utzoo.uucp (Henry Spencer) (03/10/89)
In article <330@electro.UUCP> ignac@electro.UUCP (Ignac Kolenko) writes: >what exactly are the dimensions of both Mir and Skylab??? >somehow, the term "fraction the size" makes Mir sound like its no bigger >than a washroom, compared to a department store sized Skylab! I don't have numbers handy, I'm afraid, but Paul is right: Mir is much smaller than Skylab. (Well, Mir in its current configuration.) Hardly a surprise, since they used a much smaller launch vehicle for it. But unlike Skylab, they've already expanded Mir once (with Kvant) and more expansion is coming. If you look at photos of the inside of Mir, "no bigger than a washroom" is not that much of an exaggeration. Amazing that they've actually had men living in that little thing for over a year. Their resources may be limited, but they're not short of determination. >oh, btw, whatever happened to the ESA Spacelab. i remember reading >so much about this about 7 or 8 years ago from NASA publications that i >sent away for. if i recall correctly, only one shuttle flight went up with >the Spacelab. was it a successful mission?? was it too costly?? Spacelab worked, and there are more Spacelab flights planned. Not as many as were originally anticipated, but that's true of most everything in the US space program these days... You'll start seeing Spacelab missions as soon as the "core" of screaming-high-priority missions is dealt with, in a year or so. >also, why can't the u.s. send up a duplicate of Skylab?? like, if they >did it once, why can't they do it again?? imagine, there would be no need >to re-engineer a new space station, since they already had one design that >appeared to work correctly... In fact, we've got a (formerly) flight-ready Skylab: Skylab II, in the Smithsonian. (Please, not "the backup Skylab", it was built to fly.) What we don't have is a booster that can launch it. It's much too big for the shuttle. Skylab also had one big defect, which would take at least some redesign to fix: it was not designed to be resupplied in space. Most of its supplies went up with it. The Soviets have got this licked for Mir, but the US has no equivalent of the Progress freighter. -- Welcome to Mars! Your | Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology passport and visa, comrade? | uunet!attcan!utzoo!henry henry@zoo.toronto.edu