Asri-unix.1184
net.space
utzoo!decvax!cca!sri-unix!A.exp@Berkeley
Thu Apr 8 01:12:17 1982
It would be easier to use solids carried up in the bay of the Shuttle
to boost the external tanks alone to higher orbit, because the use of
additional tanks of liquid fuel inside the Shuttle would require boosting
all the dead weight of the Shuttle for each external tank.
Enlarging the external tank requires a reconfiguration of the Shuttle exterior
and development; so liquid fuel to boost the tank into a higher orbit
should not be carried up outside the orbiter in the tank. Since the
alternative of putting liquid inside the Shuttle wastes payload capacity,
solids carried inside the bay and later attached to the external tank
is the best way to get the external tank into higher orbit.
Two studies that describe methods of converting and using the external
tank are 1. In NASA SP-428 2. An OASIS document on this. It's not
much harder than building an apartment.
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