Space Station Freedom - planned, post Apollo projects

-
Already during the Apollo program there were many proposals how to continue after the end of the project. Three major directions came into the game: manned mission to Mars, permanent stace station also to learn long term operations in the space needed for a trip to Mars, and in the end cheaper space vehicle, which would be possible to launch cargo and crew to the space station, see article The Space Shuttle.

Space Station Freedom was planned NASA project to develop manned Earth orbiting station in 1980s. Station was never constructed and after cutbacks, the project evolved into the International Space Station. Also due to the joint project Shuttle - Mir Program. That brought a lot of experiences and need for bigger collaboration for a bigger projects. 

Drawing: Revised Baseline Configuration: Freedom (1987)

NASA was calling for quite large project which would connect several tasks in the orbit: an orbiting repair for satellites, an assembly point for spacecraft, an observation place for astronomers, microgravity laboratory, and microgravity factory for companies. 

After several studies and recommendations in 1986 and 1987 the space station resulted in the Revised Baseline Configuration. It required 5 space shuttles flights per years for operations and logistics, rotating 4 crew at a time, with an extra aim to extend the individual stays up to 180 days.
NASA signed final 10 year contract to develop the space station in September 1988, and the project finally moved forward.  However after budget cuts 

After budget cuts the first launch was postponed to March 1995. NASA and Russian manufacturer NPO Energia working on Mir-2 met in November 1993.  NASA's Freedom project, Mir-2 modules, and European and Japanese modules were finally incorporated into a single International Space Station. 

ISS 2010


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Apollo 8 delta-v calculation

-
Image
The Apollo 8 Apollo 8 mission launched on December 21, 1968, and it was the second crewed spaceflight mission flown in the Apollo space program. The first mission, Apollo 7, stayed in Earth orbit. Apollo 8 mission was the first ever mission to leave the Earth's gravitational sphere, and to reach the Moon. The crew orbited the Moon ten times and returned home. It went without the landing. However, the mission was the first mission to see and take a photo of the far side of the Moon.  The mission consisted of three astronauts: Frank Borman, James Lovell, and William Anders.  Apollo 8 was the third flight and the first crewed launch of the Saturn V rocket.  Earthrise: Taken from Apollo 8; source: Wiki When building a rocket, it is a good thing to do staging. Staging basically means throwing away big, expensive parts of your rocket while the rest continues on the way up. The main advantage is not to carry dead weight.  When one has multiple powered stages, the question a...
Read more

Nozzles on Vacuum Optimazed Rockets vs. Nozzles on Sea Level Engines

-
Image
Why are sizes of rocket nozzles in second or upper-stage engine bigger than those used by sea-level engines? A sea-level optimized Raptor nozzle (on the left) stands next to a vacuum-optimized Raptor nozzle (on the right) at the SpaceX development facility in McGregor, Texas. Credit: SpaceX  Well, the answer is quite simple. A vacuum- optimized  rocket engine nozzle is bigger then a sea-level engine nozzle since it needs to match the significantly lower air density in the upper atmosphere and in space. Let's have a look in more detail. For a rocket engine is important to operate at its most efficient level, which means to produce the maximum amount of thrust. It is a key for the hot gases exiting the engine nozzle to match the external air ambient pressure. The importance of this is clear when you realize that the air pressure at sea level is about 1000 millibars, or 100 kPa, and it decreases with increasing altitude. The value quickly decreases with altitude to 100 millibars,...
Read more

Exercise on single stage vs. two-stage rocket

-
Image
Exercise: 1. Single stage rocket:  Before a rocket begins to burn fuel, the rocket has a mass of  m r,i =2.81×10 7 kg, of which the mass of the fuel is  m f,i =2.46×10 7 kg. The fuel is burned at a constant rate with total burn time is 510 s and ejected at a speed v e = 3000 m/s relative to the rocket. If the rocket starts from rest in empty space, what is the final speed of the rocket after all the fuel has been burned? What we know: initial rocket mass m r,i =2.81×10 7 kg initial mass of the fuel m f,i =2.46×10 7 kg t = 510 s v e  = 3000 m/s So, we can calculate the dry mass of the rocket m r,d =m r,i -m f,i =0.35×10 7 kg. The mass ratio is then R = m r,i  /m r,d =8.03. So, the final speed of the rocket is then: V r,f =Δv r =v e lnR=6250m/s. 2. Two-stage rocket:  Now, we have similar example, the same rocket as in the previous example, but the fuel will be burnt in two stages ejecting the fuel in each of the stages at the same relative speed (v e  =...
Read more