eder@ssc-vax.UUCP (Dani Eder) (06/21/88)
In article <3361@phri.UUCP>, roy@phri.UUCP (Roy Smith) writes: > > For the benefit of us interested-but-ignorant observers, can you give > me some idea of how useful a 600-900 pound (still no metric!) payload is? > Would such a delivery system be useful for making small emergency > shipments to a permanent space station ("Houston, we, uh, seem to have loaded > our camera wrong and wasted all our film; think you could Pegasus up another > few rolls before this comet goes out of range?"). Sounds like putting one of > these up might be a lot faster than waiting for the next scheduled shuttle. > -- Funny you should ask. One trade study going on right now at Boeing's space station effort is looking into ELV's for station resupply. (We have the Logistics Elements part of the job, among others) The current station design quantizes most of the interior hardware into 'double racks', which are large enough to hold two 19 inch standard rack-mountable pieces of equipment side by side. Hence the double rack is 42" wide. It is about 74-80 in high and 30-40 in deep. The rack estimated weights run from about 400 pounds to 1800 pounds, with a mean ofa little over 1000 pounds. The racks are all designed be removed as units. It would be really convenient to have a one-rack capacity launch vehicle (about 2000 lb), but even 900 lb will come in very handy: "Houston, we just lost the number 4 air revitalizer, could you send up a spare, NOW!!??" (no smiley face) With a solid rocket, presumably you could treat it like a big missile, and not have to spend more than a few hours prepping it for launch. Then the airplane can cruise to get under the Station's orbital path as soon as possible, making a <12 hour response time possible. Compare to the 90 day wait if a problem crops up the day after an Orbiter goes home. Dani Eder / Boeing / Space Station Program / uw-beaver!ssc-vax!eder (205)461-2606(w) (205)461-7801(h) 1075 Dockside Drive #905 Huntsville, AL 35824 34 40 N latitude 86 40 W longitude +280 ft altitude, Earth -- Dani Eder / Boeing / Space Station Program / uw-beaver!ssc-vax!eder (205)461-2606(w) (205)461-7801(h) 1075 Dockside Drive #905 Huntsville, AL 35824 34 40 N latitude 86 40 W longitude +280 ft altitude, Earth
jwm@stdc.jhuapl.edu (Jim Meritt) (06/23/88)
In article <2022@ssc-vax.UUCP> eder@ssc-vax.UUCP (Dani Eder) writes: }"Houston, we just lost the number 4 air revitalizer, could you send }up a spare, NOW!!??" (no smiley face) How about toilet paper!!!!!! } }With a solid rocket, presumably you could treat it like a big }missile, and not have to spend more than a few hours prepping it }for launch. Why would not the time spent waiting for the window be longer than "prepping" if for launch? If it is like a missle, would not the launch vechicle ALWAYS be ready for launch? Unless, of course, you meant time spent prepping the payload. Disclaimer: Individuals have opinions, organizations have policy. Therefore, these opinions are mine and not any organizations! Q.E.D. jwm@aplvax.jhuapl.edu 128.244.65.5 (James W. Meritt)