Called a "House in Space," Skylab was an innovative program that used a converted Saturn V launch vehicle propellant tank as a space station habitat. It was launched in 1973 fully equipped with provisions for three separate missions of three astronauts each. The size and lift capability of the Saturn V enabled a large diameter habitat, solar telescope, multiple docking adaptor, and airlock to be placed on-orbit with a single launch. Today, the envisioned Space Launch System (SLS) offers similar size and lift capabilities that are ideally suited for a Skylab type mission. An envisioned Skylab II mission would employ the same propellant tank concept; however serve a different mission. In this case, the SLS upper stage hydrogen tank is used as a Deep Space Habitat (DSH) for NASA s planned missions to asteroids, Earth-Moon Lagrangian point and Mars.
SKYLAB II - Making a Deep Space Habitat from a Space Launch System Propellant Tank
AIAA Space 2012 ; 2012 ; Pasadena, MD, United States
2012-01-03
Aufsatz (Konferenz)
Keine Angabe
Englisch
SKYLAB II MAKING A DEEP SPACE HABITAT FROM A SPACE LAUNCH SYSTEM PROPELLANT TANK
British Library Conference Proceedings | 2012
|NTRS | 1996