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Orbital/Lunar Transfer Vehicle (Design studies 1985-1989) Orbital/Lunar Transfer Vehicle (Design studies 1985-1989) Role Orbital/Lunar Transfer Vehicle User NASA Contractors Boeing, Martin-Marietta Accommodation —_ Four to six astronauts in 12,125 lb (5,500kg) or 17,636 Ib (8,000kg) passenger module Dimensions Length 25ft 6in (7.77m) Basic diameter —24ft 6in (7.47m) Max diameter 38ft 0in (11.58m) Weights Mass 82,783 Ib (3 Structure mass 2,804 Ib (1,272kg Heat shield mass 1,552 Ib (704kg) Engines LTV version 4 x 20.000 Ib (89KN) thrust AES engines Role User Contractors NASA Boeing, Martin-Marietta Four to six astronauts in 12,125 lb (5,500kg) or 17,636 Ib (8,000kg) passenger module Accommodation Dimensions 25ft 6in (7.77m) 24ft Gin (7.47m) 38ft in (11.58m) Length Basic diameter Max diameter Weights Mass 82,783 lb (37,550kg) Structure mass —_2,804Ib (1,272kg) Heat shield mass 1,552 Ib (704kg) Engines LTV version Propellant 4x 20,000 Ib (89kN) thrust AES engines LOX/LH2. Propellant LOX/LH2. Heat shield use _Five missions before refurbishment at the space station. Notes In passenger-carying form the LTV would rendezvous in lunar orbit with a 22,046 Ib (10,000kg) six-crew lunar lander, or eventually dock with a space station orbiting the Moon. The LTV would also transport cargo payloads to the Moon, using expendable unmanned 16,755 lb (7,600kg) landers. For manned missions to geostationary orbit the OTV would be equipped with a specialised module using a robotic arm. Above right: Two OTVs returning from the Moon aerobrake through the Earth’s upper atmosphere. NASA Right: A 1989 NASA concept for a future manned Mars lander, which uses a fixed aeroshell for deceleration through the thin carbon dioxide atmosphere. This would be followed by the deployment of parachutes. NASA Heat shield use Notes In passenger-carrying form the LTV would rendezvous in lunar orbit with a 22,046 Ib (10,000kg) six-crew lunar lander, or eventually dock with a space station orbiting the Moon. The LTV would also transport cargo payloads to the Moon, using expendable unmanned 16,755 lb (7,600kg) landers. For manned missions to geostationary orbit the OTV would be equipped with a specialised module using a robotic arm. Right: A 1989 NASA concept for a future manned Mars lander, which uses a fixed aeroshell for deceleration through the thin carbon dioxide atmosphere. This would be followed by the deployment of parachutes. NASA for a system of Orbital Transfer Vehicles expendable vehicles, launched from the (OTV) that would be based at the space sta- _ Earth by a new heavy-lift booster called Shut- tion. These vehicles would be able to deliver _ tle-C. When the LTV system became opera- and retrieve large satellites to and from geo- _ tional manned Shuttles would dock with the stationary orbit and undertake (in reconfig- Space Station and payloads would be moved ured form) longer-range missions to the to the OTVs for transfer to the Moon. Moon and beyond. The OTVs would become Unmanned Shuttle-C rockets would lift sup- central to NASA’s Moon plans, with vehicles __ plies of fuel for the LTVs and it would be pos- being used to rendezvous with a lunar space _ sible to deliver 18-ton (16,329kg) payloads station or dock with landers operating froma from LEO to lunar orbit using two LTVs in tan- base on the Moon’s surface. Such was the dem. Each of these vehicles would be importance attached to a return to the Moon —_ equipped with a substantial saucer-shaped that in 1988 NASA renamed their OTV design —_ aeroshield, which would be used on return to the Lunar Transfer Vehicle or LTV. Low Earth Orbit (LEO) to skim through the Working on proposals developed by Bar- outer atmosphere and match orbits with the ney Roberts at the Johnson Space Center in _ space station. Aerobraking would also permit 1984, NASA anticipated the establishment of _ the return of substantial payloads from geo- a Moonbase by 2005, which would be _ stationary orbit or the Moon without the need expanded to accommodate a resident staff of — to burn fuel. eighteen by 2015. The base would be formed The possibility of using unmanned LTVs for from a number of 17.5-ton (15,875kg) units long-range sample retrieval missions from derived from space station modules. They Mars and Ceres was also considered during would be landed on the Moon’s surface by _ this series of studies and it was proposed to build some as expendable platforms without aeroshields. However, endless design revi- sions for the space station and a lack of polit- ical enthusiasm for a return to the Moon finally brought this series of interesting stud- ies to an end in 1989. OREX: Japan’s Experimental Re-Entry Vehicle The Orbital Re-Entry Flight Experiment (OREX) was the name of a small lenticular- shaped test vehicle with a diameter of 53in (134.5cm). It was built by the National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA), using an H-11 booster from the Tanegashima Space Center, and was launched on 3rd February 1994. OREX made a single orbit of the Earth at an altitude of 279 miles (450km) before four 150N hydrazine thrusters were used to de-orbit the craft and bring it back to Earth. Telemetry was received (aside from the period during communication blackout) by a ground station on Okinawa and, as OREX decelerated to 131 Orbital/Lunar Transfer Vehicle Five missions before refurbishment at the space station. Above right: Two OTVs returning from the Moon aerobrake through the Earth’s upper atmosphere. NASA Flying Saucer Spacecraft