two loading and unloading doors. A four-door configuration can hold 68 passengers within the baseline cargo bay length (Figure VI-C-5). The passenger module length must be increased 6 feet to carry 80 passengers in the four-door configuration. An OMS kit is required by the baseline Space Shuttle to reach the 500 km altitude and takes 9 feet of the aft part of the cargo bay for installation. With the OMS kit installed a 50-passenger module in a four-door configuration can be carried in the baseline cargo bay. Preliminary cost estimates of the 80 passenger, 2-door passenger transport kit were given as $220M including DDT&E plus two kit sets. Weight estimates for loaded passenger kits range from 26 metric tons to 28 metric tons for 50 to 80 passengers loaded, respectively. CONCLUDING REMARKS Additional study is required on both upgraded Space Shuttle configurations and passenger transport concepts to support follow-on SPS studies. Two Headquarters Advanced Programs Office funded studies on Shuttle Growth (one, on booster and external tank options, awarded by Marshall Space Flight Center to Rockwell International in May 1976, and the other, on orbiter modifications, expected to be contracted by JSC at a later date), should provide more developed point designs.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTU5NjU0Mg==