Location
Holiday Inn, Manatee Rooms A & B
Start Date
26-4-1995 2:00 PM
End Date
26-4-1995 5:00 PM
Description
Since the demise of the Space Exploration Initiative proposed by President Bush, the focus of U. S. civil space planning has been on completing the space station and accommodating the changes brought about by bringing the Russians into the program. The station program now seems to be on a steady course and flight hardware is being produced; first launch is scheduled for 1997. There is net much slack in NASA's budget, and expectations are that a gradual decline will occur over the next few years, leaving little room for significant new programs.
Recently much attention has been given to low-cost access to Earth orbit, particularly as single-stage-to-orbit (SSTO/RLV). A NASA program to demonstrate the technology for SSTO, the X-33, has been initiated. The RLV scenario visualizes private funding for development of an operational system, with investment to be recovered by some combination of shuttle service sales to NASA and launch sales to commercial customers. If this all works out, the U. S. will, early in the next century, have a commercially operated reusable launch system operating at much lower prices than today's systems. NASA's space transportation costs for servicing the space station could eventually drop to less than a billion dollars a year.
Paper Session II-C - Lunar Mission Architectures Compatible with Economic Launch Systems
Holiday Inn, Manatee Rooms A & B
Since the demise of the Space Exploration Initiative proposed by President Bush, the focus of U. S. civil space planning has been on completing the space station and accommodating the changes brought about by bringing the Russians into the program. The station program now seems to be on a steady course and flight hardware is being produced; first launch is scheduled for 1997. There is net much slack in NASA's budget, and expectations are that a gradual decline will occur over the next few years, leaving little room for significant new programs.
Recently much attention has been given to low-cost access to Earth orbit, particularly as single-stage-to-orbit (SSTO/RLV). A NASA program to demonstrate the technology for SSTO, the X-33, has been initiated. The RLV scenario visualizes private funding for development of an operational system, with investment to be recovered by some combination of shuttle service sales to NASA and launch sales to commercial customers. If this all works out, the U. S. will, early in the next century, have a commercially operated reusable launch system operating at much lower prices than today's systems. NASA's space transportation costs for servicing the space station could eventually drop to less than a billion dollars a year.
Comments
Lunar Industrialization and Colonization
Session Chairman: Hyam Benaroya, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Rutgers University
Session Organizer: Alan Drysdale