Report of the Committee on a Commercially Developed Space Facility (1989) / Chapter Skim
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FACILITIES TO SUPPORT MICROGRAVITY RESEARCH AND APPLICATIONS
FACILITIES TO SUPPORT MICROGRAVITY RESEARCH AND APPLICATIONS
Pages 25-40
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Major facilities that could support significant microgravity research and applications activity are discussed briefly in the following section. GROUND-BASED FACILITIES Ground-based facilities provide a microgravity environment with limited capabilities for research for short periods of time.
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SPACE SHUTTLE-BASED CAPABILITIES The following section describes a wide variety of facilities for microgravity experimentation that are closely tied to the Shuttle. The list treats current or planned major capabilities and is not exhaustive.
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is a structure that is mounted across the payload bay and provides power, data channels, thermal control, and an experiment mounting area sized to accommodate material science experiments. A payload mass of up to 925 kg can be accommodated on 4.8 m of mounting area.
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would be modified to be able to provide a 16-day mission capability, while the new OV-105 would be modified to provide a 16-day mission capability, which might then be extended to 28 days. Advantages: Extending the flight duration of the Space Shuttle provides the ability to perform more experiments and to have longer experiment run times, for example for crystal growth.
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Its internal dimensions are 11 m long and 3 m in diameter (providing to the user space for seven Space Station double racks and six modular containers for user experiments)
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Depending on the payload configuration, Leasecraft can be launched on the Delta ELV and avoid complete dependence on the Shuttle. Status: In 1987, Fairchild and NASA revalidated a Joint Endeavor Agreement for the commercial development of Leasecraft under which NASA would provide a free launch and the first servicing flight along with flight test planning and test resources.
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SPACEHAB officials indicated that by the summer of 1989 they will have firm payload commitments and deposits from Europe and Japan. They have identified sources and are completing financing arrangements for all funding needed to complete development and production of the module.
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, large user experiment volumes, continuing human interaction with experiments, and long experiment run times. Status: The Space Station has completed several requirements reviews and is in the preliminary design phase.
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platform first launched by the Japanese H-II rocket in early 1993 and retrieved by the Space Shuttle about 6 months later. The experiments to be carried out on the first flight would include space observation, advanced technology experiments, flight tests of advanced industrial technologies, and verification of the exposed facility of the Japanese Experiment Module of the Space Station.
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From page 34... ...
Advantages: As of early 1989, flight opportunities on the Photon capsule were being offered commercially by Glavcosmos at $15,000 per kilogram. This price is negotiable if either the data received from the experiment or the new hardware developed for it are shared with the Soviets.
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The ability to reach and sustain such flight rates can be described as optimistic or "success oriented," especially since NASA does not set aside a flight contingency reserve. While a recent National Research Council study estimates a sustainable rate of 11 to 13 flights per year for a four-orbiter fleet, it cautions that "these estimates do not account for contingencies" that, aside from the obvious ones of loss or major damage to an orbiter, include "diverted landings; weather delays; late manifest and/or flight plan changes; unforeseen payload delays; facility or support system downtime; lack of timely availability of spares/logistic support." Should Space Shuttle launch rates of 13 to 14 per year not materialize, some microgravity research goals may not be achieved in the desired time frames since there is no readily available alternative for Shuttle-transported microgravity payloads.
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McDonnellDouglas Aeritalia 4-7 days* ID'3 Crew-tended ISF (Facility Space Industries Partnership years io-6-io-6 Crew-tended in attached mode; Free-flyer capability Module)
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60 m3 total usable Lab volume > 68,200 kg (120 std racks)
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Commercial SPACEHAB ISF 0.45 0.25 0.25 0.50 0.50 0.20 0.25 1.75 0.70^ 0.50 1.00 Total 1.00 2.35 4.05 5.57 4.90 -Being Negotiated (Source: NASA)
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From page 39... ...
1986. Post-Challenger Assessment of Space Shuttle Flight Rates and Utilization pp.
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