This paper details the ground test program for the NASA Langley Research Center Mobile Transporter concept. The Mobile Transporter would assist EVA astronauts in the assembly of the Space Station Freedom. 1-g and simulated O-g (neutral buoyancy) tests were conducted to evaluate the use of the Mobile Transporter. A three-bay (44 struts) orthogonal tetrahedral truss configuration with a 15-foot-square cross section was repeatedly assembled by a single pair of pressure suited test subjects working from the Mobile Transporter astronaut positioning devices. The average unit assembly time was 28 seconds/strut. The results of these tests indicate that the use of a Mobile Transporter for EVA assembly of Space Station size structure is viable and practical. Additionally, the Mobile Transporter could be used to construct other spacecraft such as the submillimeter astronomical laboratory, space crane, and interplanetary (i.e., Mars and lunar) spacecraft.
A mobile transporter concept for EVA assembly of future spacecraft
AIAA/ASME/ASCE/AHS/ASC Structures, Structural Dynamics and Materials Conference ; 1990 ; Long Beach, CA, United States
1990-01-01
Conference paper
No indication
English
Engineering Index Backfile | 1963
|NTIS | 1965
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