A Supertrain Solution?
A high speed steel wheel rail line has been highly successful in France, where ridership has been very high. Financial backers were paid back in seven years, half the projected payback...
Next Stop: The Los Angeles Metro Rail
The Los Angeles Metro Rail is a $6.5 billion light and heavy rail system, which may be entirely completed by the year 2000. A 22 mi segment of the 150 mi light rail system, connecting...
Requirements and Concept for an On-Orbit Construction Facility for Phase 1 Space Station Freedom
Future NASA plans for exploring the solar system and programs such as the Large Deployable Reflector and Pathfinder require in-space construction for their success. The technologies required...
An Astronaut Positioning System for Space Station Assembly and Maintenance Support
Large space structures require special systems to support assembly, operations, and maintenance. These systems must be designed to support many tasks throughout the life of the space facility....
Telerobotic Capabilities for Space Station Operations
Over the past decade, the M.I.T. Space Systems Laboratory has accumulated an extensive data base on space operations typical of those planned for the Space Station, based on integrated...
Fluid Line Deployment and Repair for Space Station
Deployment of the utility system for providing services to the NASA Space Station Freedom provides a unique challenge in design and material technology. The system must be lightweight,...
Space Station Freedom Attached Payloads and Commercialization
The Space Station Freedom (SSF) accommodates a class of payloads called external attached payloads. These payloads are attached to the main truss of Space Station Freedom through the use...
Incident Solar Flux at Fixed Orientations
Optimal orientations are computed to maximize or minimize the incident solar flux onto surfaces on spacecraft at fixed attitudes. This analysis was motivated by a potential need to optimize...
Space Debris?A Design Consideration
With the increased use of space by manned or unmanned missions, it has become necessary to include yet another parameter in the design of spacecraft, namely, the effect of a probable impact...
Clearing Space Debris Using Energetic Materials
Space debris is growing at an alarming rate. It consists not only of old, unusable payloads but also aluminum oxide combustion products of various space delivery systems and small fragments...
Technology Needs Development and Orbital Support Requirements for Manned Lunar and Mars Missions
This paper will present an overview of the critical technology needs and the Space Station Freedom (SSF) focused support requirements for the Office of Exploration's (OEXP)...
Low Earth Orbit Infrastructure to Accommodate Manned Lunar Missions
In order to establish bases on the lunar and Mars surfaces, a significant amount of orbital infrastructure including assembly platforms, cryogenic fluids depots, and Space Station Freedom,...
Space Transportation Node: The Atrium Facility
During the next thirty years the infrastructure of space transportation is expected to expand to a system of advanced vehicles. A transportation node is an important link, as a vehicle...
A Space Station Trash Recovery and Recycling System
The quantity of trash produced on the Space Station during its lifetime will be substantial and will include useful waste materials. Given the high cost of transportation to orbit, it...
MALEO: Modular Assembly in Low Earth Orbit: An Alternate Strategy for Lunar Base Deployment
Modular Assembly in Low Earth Orbit (MALEO) is a new strategy for building an initial operational capability lunar habitation base. In this strategy, the lunar base components are brought...
Explosive Metal Working for Space
As the United States looks towards larger and larger lift vehicles for the transportation of the space station and other large payloads, the application of explosive metalworking becomes...
Fluid Behavior Considerations for Waste Management in Low-Gravity Environments
Design of waste recycling systems for spacecraft requires a knowledge of fluid behavior in microgravity. As gravity is reduced, phenomena usually ignored in the One-G environment of earth...
National Aero-Space Plane Pioneering New Frontiers
Paper reviews the current status, technology and potential future space launch applications of the joint DOD/NASA National Aero-Space Plane (NASP) program. Key program goals include first...
Implications of the New Radiation Exposure Limits on Space Station Freedom Crews
Spaceflight unavoidably increases the exposure of astronauts to natural ionizing radiation. Any increase in radiation exposure increases the risk of contracting cancer or inducing genetic...
Managing Cultural Diversity in Orbital Habitats
This paper presents the background, outline, and initial findings of an international project on 'Managing Cultural Diversity in Orbital Habitats'. The purpose...
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