Integrated Manned Programme

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Revision as of 14:54, 5 May 2009 by imported>Graham2001 (→‎Reusable Nuclear Shuttle)
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When Apollo 17 left the moon, on the descent module was a plaque that read Here Man completed his first explorations of the moon. December 1972 AD. May the spirit of peace in which we came be reflected in the lives of all mankind.

But what were his next explorations to be like...

NASAs Integrated Post-Apollo Program
NASAs Integrated Post-Apollo Program

Reusable Nuclear Shuttle

Reusable Nuclear Shuttle
Proposed method of launching the RNS into orbit using the Space Shuttle and an INT-21

One of the 'backbones' of the Integrated Manned Program was the Reusable Nuclear Shuttle(RNS), a NERVA based propulsion stage that could be used either to shuttle cargo between Earth and Moon, or to send men to Mars and Venus.

They were to be launched into orbit either by using a Space Shuttle and Saturn INT-21 to send it up as separate components. The Space Shuttle would have carried the engine up into orbit to be mated with fuel tanks launched earlier by a Saturn INT-21.

See:


Space Shuttle (McDonnell-Douglas: ILRVS)

ILRVS Booster Stage
ILRVS Orbiter Stage
ILRVS Typical Flight Profile

Another 'backbone' of the Integrated Manned Program was the Space Shuttle, a fully or parially reusable spacecraft designed to carry men and equipment to the various low Earth orbit spacestations that would be built as the program got under way.

Several different designs were considered before settling on the one currently being phased out. One such design was one proposed by McDonnell Douglas in which an enlarged HL-10 lifing body would be used to carry a 11,000kg (25,000lb), 4.6m(15ft) by 9.1m (30ft) payload into an orbit with a maximum altitude of 500km (270nm).

Called the Integrated Launch and Reentry Vehicle System (ILRVS), the shuttle and its two man crew would have been launched into orbit using a manned booster stage.

See:


References

Here are a selection of documents with information on the Integrated Manned Programme: