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The combined space station and Air Force payload requirements were not sufficient to reach desired shuttle launch rates. Therefore, the plan was for all future U.S. space launches—space stations, Air Force, commercial satellites, and scientific research—to use only the Space Shuttle.
The satellite designs also required that the Space Shuttle have a 4.6 by 18 m (15 by 60 ft) payload bay. NASA evaluated the F-1 and J-2 engines from the Saturn rockets , and determined that they were insufficient for the requirements of the Space Shuttle; in July 1971, it issued a contract to Rocketdyne to begin development on the RS-25 engine.
The most massive payload launched by the Space Shuttle was the Chandra X-ray Observatory in 1999 at 50,162 lb (22,753 kg), including its Inertial Upper Stage (IUS) and support equipment. [40] The Shuttle was capable of returning approximately 16,000 kg (35,000 lb) of cargo to Earth.
The external tank and Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Boosters (SRBs) would be combined with a cargo module that took the place of the shuttle orbiter and included the Space Shuttle Main Engines. A ballistic return pod would be used as the main engine structure and carry 2-4 SSMEs as well as mount the payload/booster stage. It would be recovered via ...
A Multi-Purpose Logistics Module (MPLM) is a large pressurized container that was used on Space Shuttle missions to transfer cargo to and from the International Space Station (ISS). Two MPLMs made a dozen trips in the Shuttle cargo bay and initially berthed to the Unity and later the Harmony module on the ISS. Once attached, supplies were ...
Berthing of spacecraft can be traced at least as far back as the berthing of payloads into the Space Shuttle payload bay. [10] Such payloads could be either free-flying spacecraft captured for maintenance/return, or payloads temporarily exposed to the space environment at the end of the Remote Manipulator System. Several different berthing ...
During the NSTS era, payloads typically arrived in the Shuttle's Payload Bay. During grapple, the SRMS' joints were "limped", allowing it to conform its posture to the exact location of the payload. The SSRMS typically grapples a free-flying payload that has maneuvered itself to maintain a constant distance and orientation with respect to the ISS.
IPS would be mounted inside the payload bay of the Space Shuttle Orbiter, and could provide gimbaled 3-axis pointing. [21] It was designed for a pointing accuracy of less than 1 arcsecond (a unit of degree), and three pointing modes including Earth, Sun, and Stellar focused modes. [ 22 ]