Representative Space Shuttle missions and their impact on shuttle design.

Abstract

Four representative Space Shuttle missions for the 1980's are described: mission 1, a third stage deployment and retrieval mission; mission 2, a combination orbiting element revisit and sortie mission; mission 3, a rapid payload retrieval and return mission; and mission 4, a 30-day earth observation sortie mission. The first three missions are proposed baseline reference missions, and, as such, their mission requirements must be met by the baseline shuttle configuration developed by NASA contractors. Typically, these missions impact the design in terms of such basics as shuttle launch payload capability, payload bay size, performance of the orbital maneuvering system (OMS) and the reaction control system (RCS), the basic 7-day orbital system lifetime, and the thermal protection system for high cross-range entry. To illustrate that vehicle design may be subject to requirements from other mission types as well, mission 4 is included. Each description stresses mission requirements having unique impact on vehicle design.