69,000 pound pressure vessel, and additional space of 53,500 cubic feet above the ACC inside the hydrogen tank that can be easily entered and turned into work areas, living quarters, hangars (pressurized or unpressurized), or storage facilities with a minimum of effort (25). The orbiter payload bay can carry the additional equipment necessary for station setup such as tools, solar panels, and radiator arrays. This concept lowers the cost of flying a manned space platform from the current cost reachable only by governments or government agencies to a cost that corporation can reasonable meet. It also gives the United States the capability to launch and fly a large space station with a single launch - something that we have not had since the Saturn V was operational. The manned ACC is attractive for several other reasons. It provides a differently shaped volume than the payload bay - wide as opposed to long. This volume shape is more akin to that which people are used to living and working in on the earth and may possibly ease adaptation to space by visiting crews. A size comparison of the ACC based station shows that an ACC module is almost a third larger than the current volume available in the shuttle payload bay - 13,000 versus 10,000 cubic feet (4, 25). You get a major increase in Shuttle capability with minimal modifications. The ACC, as mentioned previously, can be configured to any mission and any role. In addition to the habitation module, it can be configured to a multiple docking module, a lifeboat, a ’storm shelter* for solar flares, a spare, an on-orbit farm, etc. Carrying the space station module outside of the payload bay frees up the remaining payload bay volume and/or mass capability for additional paying customers. Conversely, the ACC can be used to launch other payloads with minimal mission impact if the payload to orbit capability. The ACC based module also can be designed to attach to anything that any other space facility module can be attached to. As mentioned earlier, the Hydrogen tank is also available for future expansion in an ET based space station concept. Entry can be made into the tank by a variety of means with entry diameters ranging from 3 feet (through the inspection manhole) all the way up to 27.5 feet if the dome is removed. The manhole is large enough for an astronaut with a spacesuit to fit through. The tank is clean, has a minimum of protrusions, and is ready for immediate habitation or ready with a minimum of effort (25). One of the concepts for internal modifications of the Hydrogen tank on-orbit is to use a large
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