Documents / Report
This Defense Intelligence Reference Document, prepared by the Defense Intelligence Agency and dated 8 March 2010, was produced under the Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications (AAWSA) Program. It gives a historical and technical review of how to reach space and return. It covers hypersonic gliders, air-breathing and rocket propulsion, thermodynamics and materials, and launch options. It argues that reliable, schedulable access to low Earth orbit is mainly a hardware and propulsion problem rather than a technology one.
“Gross”7 pages
UNCLASSIFIED/ iF8A 8FFI~II k YE'lii 811k>C payload would be 15,228 lb-well within the payload capacity. The operating parameters for the station were a nominal 21-person crew with provisions for up to 27. This study determined that 47,000 lb (21,315 kg) of resources were required per crewmember per year. So for 1 year and a 21-person complement, 448 metric tons of supplies would need to be lifted to the station for crew support, not counting propellants to maintain the station orbit. With 21 crewmembers, 4 flights per year would be required to meet the 6-month assignment requirement. To lift the crew supplies to the station would require 64 flights per year, not counting propellant- and hardware-replacement missions, which might require another 5 to 6 flights per year. The minimum number of flights to a large station would be 74 flights per year. From a military mission analysis, that would require a fleet of 10 aircraft (without operational spares) flying 7 times a year for 15 years and a 100-flight operational life. The spacecraft and systems considered in the study were: • Ballistic, derivative Apollo capsule, Rockwell. • HL-10 lifting body, NASA Langley. • Wing body, X-20 derivative, Boeing. • Variable-geometry lifting body, Model 176, McDonnell Douglas. • Operations and logistics requirements, Lockheed, NAS-9-1422. • Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL), Lockheed, NAS-9-1688. • Manned Orbiting Research Laboratory (MORL), McDonnell Douglas, NAS-1-362. This summary report contained a large number of recommendations and conclusions. Those that were pertinent to the Saturn lB and Saturn V rocket launchers and the rotating space station are not listed. Only those related to the vehicle and propulsion system are given. • Among the lifting-body spacecraft, the variable-geometry spacecraft provides the best combination of hypersonic maneuvering and landing performance. • A 9- to 12-passenger payload with equipment is recommended. • An abort system for both low-altitude and high-altitude abort and escape is required. • Structural concepts and materials applicable to the loads and heating of lifting spacecraft are within the present (that is, 1965) state of the art. • The weight factor for lifting spacecraft results primarily from a larger surface area and only secondarily from the associated spacecraft environment. • Radiation-cooled structures are generally lighter than other structural concepts. • For surface temperatures above 2,200 °F (1,204 °C), refractory metals are required, and coating life is the major refractory metal limitation (applies to carbon-carbon today). 44 UNCLASSIFIED/ /F81it 8FFI&I.«1k W&lii Ollk¥
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Report, from the dia collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is under it. 56 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.