Ways and Means of Effecting Economies in the National Space Program

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U.S. Government Printing Office, 1963 - 19 pages
 

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Page 14 - A sequence of 33 vehicle recovery events were analyzed comparing individual reliabilities for each event performed in an unmanned versus a manned system. These events covered 10 major vehicle subsystems such as engines, guidance, flight controls, hydraulics, et cetera. Our calculations showed that 12 times as many manned as unmanned vehicles would be recovered successfully. An. analysis of Discoverer satellite recoveries attempted through the first quarter of 1961 revealed that 5 out of 12 orbiting...
Page 15 - All of these engineering requirements are basic to effective performance of any space mission vehicle, and many of them are currently under development. It would be possible, however, to direct their development even more effectively under an integrated program geared to orbital basing. With orbital basing, we would derive maximum utilization and service life from payloads which must be launched into space at considerable cost. Accordingly, we recommend that development of the orbital base be initiated...
Page 15 - For missions requiring sustained patrol, frequent repetition, recurrent sampling, crew placement, and acquisition of scientific data under varying conditions, we believe that notable economies will result from basing semipermanent mission support stations in the orbital "theater of operations.
Page 15 - ... carried could be exchanged for greater flexibility. Moreover, such an orbital base would provide an excellent point of departure for missions into deep space. The technical requirements for reliable orbital basing are effective life support systems ; modular station structures ; precision delivery, rendezvous, and docking of payloads ; orbital refueling systems ; interchangeable mission modules ; and flight data integration display systems. All of these engineering requirements are basic to effective...

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