National Institute of Standards and Technology Conference On

National Institute of Standards and Technology Conference On Reducing the Cost of Space Infrastructure and Operations Part 2: Topical Papers -QC 100 .U56 //5256 1993 Building and Fire Research Laboratory Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899 NIST United States Department of Commerce Ibchnology Administration National Institute of Standards and Technology / NISTIR 5256 National Institute of Standards and Technology Conference On Reducing the Cost of Space Infrastructure and Operations Part 2: Topical Papers William C. Stone, Ed. August 1993 Building and Fire Research Laboratory National Institute of Standards and Technology Gaithersburg, MD 20899 U.S. Department of Commerce Ronald H, Brown, Secretary Technology Administration Mary L. Good, Under Secretary for Technology National Institute of Standards and Technology Arati Prabhakar, Director I 1 Abstract A conference was held from November 20-22, 1989 at the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Gaithersburg, Maryland for the purpose of discussing methods for reducing the cost of space infrastructure and operations. This was a multi-disciplinary group that included invited speakers from both within and outside of the traditional aerospace community. Specific comparison was made in the case of habitats and extravehicular activity with commercially successful undersea operations on earth which operate daily under more severe environmental conditions and with operating budgets on the order of 1/1000 that of orbital analogs. Other topical areas included chemical and advanced launch systems and institutional aspects including insurance and differences between top-down control and performance-based development of space infrastructure. The proceedings are published in two separate reports. Part 1, Oral Presentations and Discussion, contains edited transcriptions of the invited lecture presentations and of the discussion which followed each presentation and is available as a separate NISTIR report. Part 2, Topical Papers, is contained in the present publication and includes prepared manuscripts which were submitted in advance of the conference. Keywords: advanced propulsion; cost reduction; unit cost; launch insurance; NIST conference; orbital habitats; space infrastructure; space suits; space transportation 1 List of Acronyms ALS Advanced Launch System ASAT Anti-Satellite Device CFD Computational Fluid Dynamics DARPA Defense Advanced Research Project Agency DOC Department of Commerce ECLSS Environmental Closed Life Support System EMU Extra Vehicular Mobility Unit ETCO External Tanks Corp. EVA Extra Vehicular Activity FDU Fairleigh Dickinson University FTS Flight Telerobotic Servicer GD General Dynamics Corp. GPS Global Positioning System GSO Geo Stationary Orbit GTO Geostationary Transfer Orbit ICBM Intercontinental Ballistic Missile ISF Industrial Space Facility IVA Intravehicular Activity Isp Specific Impulse (seconds) JSC Johnson Space Center, NASA LEO Low Earth Orbit LRT NOAA Launch and Recovery Transport LSB Life Support Buoy MITI Ministry of International Trade and Industry, Japan MMU Manned Maneuvering Unit NASA National Aeronautics and Space Administration NASP National Aerospace Plane NBS National Bureau of Standards NIST National Institute of Standards and Technology NOAA National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration OAST Office of Aeronautics and Space Technology, NASA OSC Orbital Sciences Corporation OTA Office of Technology Assessment, United States Congress OTV Orbital Transfer Vehicle RMS Robot Manipulator System ROV Remotely Operated Vehicle SDI Strategic Defense Initiative SDIO Strategic Defense Initiative Office, Department of Defense SSI Space Studies Institute SSME Space Shuttle Main Engine STEP Space Transportation Engine Program UDMH Unsymmetrical Dimethyl Hydrazine Table of Contents: Part 2 The Industrial Space Facility Max A. Faget, Space Industries, Inc 1 The SPACE PHOENIX Program Thomas F. Rogers, The External Tanks Corp and The Sophron Foundation 17 External Tank Habitat Allan S. Hill, A&K Consultants 29 External Tank Work at NIST: A Numerical Procedure for the Evaluation of Drag and Aerodynamic Torque for Convex Shells of Revolution in Low Earth Orbit William C. Stone and Christoph Witzgall, NIST 45 Autonomous Propulsion System Requirements for Placement of an STS External Tank in Low Earth Orbit William C. Stone and Geraldine S. Cheok, NIST 76 EVA Life Cycle Cost Issues Summary Paul F. Marshall, NASA 89 Flight Opportunity for Small Payloads Patrice Larcher, Arianespace 94 Commercial Launch Vehicles Using Hybrid Propulsion Jay Kniffen, AMROC 103 Novel Integration Concepts Edward H. Bock, General Dynamics 110 Payload Sensors Carl F. Schueler, Hughes Santa Barbara Research Center 118 Cost Comparison Between the Space Flight and the Commercial Catalog Models of a Cesium Atomic Clock Module Helmut Hellwig, NIST 135 Laser Propulsion Work at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Pulsed-Laser Propulsion for Low Cost, High Volume Launch to Orbit Jordin Kare, LLNL 146 Laser Propulsion and Possible Missions to Mars Jordin Kare, LLNL 154 The Ram Accelerator as a Space Cargo Launcher A Hertzberg and AP. Bruckner, Univ. of Washington 166 Appendix A: List of Conference Participants 228 The Industrial Space Facility Dr. Max A. Faget Space Industries, Inc. 711 W. Bay Blvd., Suite 320 Webster, Texas 77598-4001 1 THE INDUSTRIAL SPACE FACILITY Near the end of the Apollo program, NASA started giving a considerable amount of attention to follow-on programs. Primary among these was a space station. For numerous reasons, various space station proposals waxed and waned during the yeaiE until the early 1970s. At that time, it was recognized that a serious commitment to a space station would also require a transportation system, preferably of a reusable nature. Consequently, the shuttle program was started and, because of financial reasons, further considerations of a space station were put aside until completion of the shuttle program. As the name implies, the primary purpose of the shuttle has always been to provide transportation service between the earth and some place in space. Starting in 1983, Space Industries began serious studies of a man-tended, free- flyer that would be serviced by the shuttle and would, consequently, provide a place in space to which the shuttle would go. ITie Industrial Space Facility (ISF) has been designed strictly from a commerced perspective; that is, to be more cost effective with focus on providing power, duration and flexibility of use. hiitially, it was primarily intended to be a facility wherein commerci^y maricetable material could be processed in the space environment. TTie shuttle pro^am never reached its launch rate goal in the early 1980s and was out of service over two and one-hdf years during the later part of the decade. As a result, the opportunities to develop materials that might have market appeal were diminished to nearly zero. Consequently, we at Space Industries 2 and other uses have focused our attention on research in the microgravity environment for the ISF. which is a man-tended Figure 1 - Figure 1 shows the Industrial Space Facility ISF is stabilized by a gravity- ffee-flyer that will be operational after one launch. The gravity-gradient boom and the solar array is gradient boom. The arrangement of the will be upright with one solar array such that the naturally stable attitude in orbit deployed in space and will be leading and one trailing. It will be permanently compatible with Space launched and serviced by the shuttle. It will be operationally it the same orbit as Freedom- Station Freedom. To this end, we intend to locate in that should be either slightly ahead or behind. It will also employ a docking system operationally compatible with Freedom. operated. Standard user It is intended that the ISF will be privately owned and within the ISF interfaces will be provided. For instance, user accommodation interfaces Presently racks will provide the same services and volume as the space station racks. early 1994. the ISF is on the shuttle manifest for an initial launch in main Figure 2 - Figure 2 illustrates the varied elements of the ISF. The full accommodation for shirt-sleeve element is the Facility Module which will provide feet will also operation in a pressurized volume. The internal volume of 2500 cubic 3 house most of the user’s equipment in racks or modular containers. Consequently, this equipment will be available for easy servicing during the period the ISF is docked to the shuttle. The Facility Module has a port on either end and also two side ports. These ports may be used for docking with the shuttle or to accommodate externally attached elements that would provide additional volumes accessible to the crews. The Auxiliary Module represents such an element which may be attached to these ports. Auxiliary Modules will provide up/down capabilities for resupply of consumables or changeout of payload (i.e., new racks and modular containers). An Auxiliary Module may also provide more on-orbit volume that could house additional racks and modular containers. The Auxiliary Module may also be outfitted with specialized payloads in an assembly that would not ordinarily be compatible with racks or modular containers. Finally, Space Industries will provide a Docking System for the shuttle since none will exist at the time we plan the initial deployment of the ISF. It is our intention to construct the Docking System in a manner that would make many elements of the Docking System useful to NASA during operation of

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