ET Project - Applications - Mise This section details a variety of external tank applications that are not readily matched with the previous categories. These applications are in no way less important or feasable. Indeed, the military and scientific applications may very well be the first use of the ET or the ET/ACC combination on orbit. The majority of the science applications were suggested in two workshops held at the California Space Institute in 1982 - 1983 (56, 95). I. Ovservational Science The External Tank has been proposed as the heart of a variety of telescopes for observations of the earth and space across majority of the electromagnetic spectrum. These include the use of the volume of the tank and the ET/ACC carrier as a way to carry large mirrors into orbit, the use of the tank itself as a strongback for the construction and stabilization of large structures, and the use of the interior of the tank itself as a telescope for high energy astronomy. A. Large Deployable Reflector (LDR) One of the early uses of the tank could be to carry mirror segments in the ACC for on orbit construction into a LDR (35, 81). This telescope is primarily intended for research in the infrared and submillimeter wavelengths. Its basic design would also serve nicely for a large diameter optical reflector. The basic plan is to carry seven panels composed of seven hexagonal segments stacked on top of one another in the ACC. Each panel is proposed to be 24.5 feet across. The panels are removed from the ACC and assembled on orbit into a rigid structure about 66 feet across. There are 18 edges to be connected on orbit in this plan. An alternate method would be to carry the smaller segments in the cargo bay and assemble them into the LDR on-orbit. This alternate method is not as attractive because it requires several more edges to be joined together. This leads to additional problems associated with pointing and mirror adjustment of 49 total segments.
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