APPENDIX V-A-l CONSTRUCTION STUDIES H. G. Patterson Future Programs Office 1 .0 CONTRACTOR STUDIES This section will cover the following completed studies. 1.1 Orbital Assembly and Maintenance Study (Reference 1) The Martin Marietta Aerospace Corporation, under contract to NASA-JSC, has derived a concept to construct the support structure for the microwave power transmission system portion of the solar power station using STS elements (Figure 1). The support structure is one kilometer in diameter and consists of 2520 60-foot cubes with a total weight of approximately two million pounds. The material used for the structure is coated steel. The first phase in the total construction process is to assemble the middle 60-foot cube. The first Shuttle flight contains the basic core structure with folding alignment and support member, 12 beam members with cross braces, and two sets of mobile assemblers and beam holders. The center core is extracted from the cargo bay, positioned and docked on the Shuttle docking module with the RMS. The alignment beams are unfolded from beside the core structure and the tension rods are positioned. A rotary docking interface is required at the docking port since the RMS cannot reach completely around the core structure. The remainder of the beams are extracted from the cargo bay, placed in the correct position and alignment, and then welded in place, one at a time. The two sets of mobile assemblers and mobile beam package holders are placed on either side of the cube. The second Shuttle flight contains two beam packages. These are nonstandard in that they are split longitudinally so that a package can be placed on each side of the cube. The beam packages are 60 foot long and fill the cargo bay. Thirty-eight more cubes are constructed using the assemblers. When this structure is completed, the assembly equipment is stowed and the structure is readied for boost. The 39 cube structure is readied for boost by docking two Tugs and two SEPS. This assembly is then boosted to intermediate orbit with two Tugs. The Tugs will return and the SEPS will boost the assembly to
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