II. Space station applications The ET can also be used to enhance the space station. The uses are limited only by the imagination of the respective planner and/or buyer. On the surface, it may seem that the recycling of 'thrown away' space vehicles is less than a desirable practice in manned spaceflight. This is simply not the case. The use of leftover parts of launch vehicles is something that the American space program is historically very good at doing as mentioned previously. Orbital construction and repair of satellites, space stations and other structures is a required skill in which astronauts are becoming proficient. Recent experience in satellite capture and repair by shuttle astronauts and major repairs on space stations conducted by Salyut and Skylab astronauts show that on-orbit construction is not only possible, but the most cost effective choice for many applications. Indeed, the US is planning to construct the space station in orbit starting in 1992 (8). A. Habitations - ACC, Oxygen, and Hydrogen Tank As described previously, the Aft Cargo Carrier (ACC) is a relatively inexpensive enhancement of the ET which allows a myriad of shuttle and space station enhancements to be flown. One of the attractive enhancements of the ACC is the capability to construct a fully functioning self-contained space station module capable of supporting a crew of up to seven, attaching it to the end of a tank, and launching it into orbit (4, 25). Possible missions of a manned ACC module include a workshop, corporate research facility, corporate space station, space station module, spare segment, attach segment, initial living quarters for a future expandable station, etc. Literally, anything that a space station module can offer, the ACC based module can provide more of for a lower overall price (4, 25, 31, 77). There are several very attractive advantages that a space effort can get out of flying a manned ACC. The first advantage is that it becomes possible to launch a small (in crew size - large in actual volume) manned space station that can be greatly expanded in the future with a single shuttle flight. The program savings in launch costs alone over conventional designs are staggering. The ACC can be constructed to contain all the life support, living, and initial working space. The External Tank attached above provides gravity gradient stabilization, an average of 15,000 pounds of residual cryogenics available for immediate use or scavenging, structural strength of a
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