Abstract
In the minds of its designers and advocates, the Space Shuttle was to be the first part of an infrastructure that would extend from low Earth orbit all the way to the Martian surface. It would be nothing more than a truck for special deliveries. A truck with such a large cargo bay that it would be capable of carrying into orbit the components for a modular space station in low orbit, satellites destined for geosynchronous orbits, modules for outposts on the Moon and Mars; in fact, everything else the American aerospace industry might want to place in space. As remarkable and innovative as it promised to be, one serious pitfall of this space truck was its lack of altitude. In fact, it was realized early on in its development that the operational ceiling would be about 300 nautical miles, while most of the payloads it was to haul would need to operate at higher altitudes, such as geostationary ones at 22,236 miles. Some payloads would be robotic probes to explore the uncharted territories of the solar system; destinations far and beyond the Shuttle’s reach.Launch Platform
2017-01-01
31 pages
Article/Chapter (Book)
Electronic Resource
English
NTIS | 2000
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