Space 1985, looking ahead.

P.S.
Look at the youtube channel of this meritorious guy; is a true treasure chest!!

https://www.youtube.com/user/TheConquestofSpace/videos
 
Fantastic find Carmelo !

sad they not build this as International Space Station in 1985
had take only 10 shuttle flights to assembly it.

I guess from computer graphic used in video, its Made around 1973~1975
 
Seems more a 1971 film.
Before the decision of finance the Shuttle,but not the Station.
More the orbiter in the film is one of early proposals.
 
carmelo said:
Seems more a 1971 film.
Before the decision of finance the Shuttle,but not the Station.
More the orbiter in the film is one of early proposals.
Click to expand...

They say clearly at 6:29
It should be notice that this is a early Shuttle design used for this Analysis
Click to expand...
also they used Solid object CGI, so far i know in 1971 the CGI was only able to show frame work only.

back to Space station
That's NASA "Modularised Space Station" concept from 1970-1972
After end of Saturn V production, it became clear that future Space Station had to be launch by Shuttle
so the North American Rockwell and McDonnell-Douglas got study contracts, who were extended until January 1972 to cover modular space station work.
 
First CGI was developed for NASA?

Michel Van said:
That's NASA "Modularised Space Station" concept from 1970-1972
After end of Saturn V production, it became clear that future Space Station had to be launch by Shuttle
so the North American Rockwell and McDonnell-Douglas got study contracts, who were extended until January 1972 to cover modular space station work.
Click to expand...

A real madness not to have developed the Station together the Space Shuttle.
 
carmelo said:
First CGI was developed for NASA?
Click to expand...

not quite, it was so far i know is a University invention were Pentagon and NASA profit.
not sure it this of MIT or from Lawrence Livermore Labs, CalTech ?

Michel Van said:
That's NASA "Modularised Space Station" concept from 1970-1972
Click to expand...

carmelo said:
A real madness not to have developed the Station together the Space Shuttle.
Click to expand...

Welcome to real Madness of 1973 US Politics !
congress and Senat were hostile toward the new NASA projects: Space Shuttle, Nuclear Shuttle, Space Tug and Space Station.
in the end NASA budget was cut down to minimum of of $3,312 billion
So NASA had to make cuts in R&D of Space shuttle, Space Tug, kill Nuclear Shuttle, and Space Station in hope a future president would start that program
from tow stage full reusable space craft the Shuttle became this deadly contraption and reusable Space Tug became disposable centaur stage inside the shuttle Cargo-bay.
but the Space Shuttle R&D eat away half of NASA budget from 1975 on and there no money for space station R&D until 1981

NASA Administrator like James C. Fletcher and Robert A. Frosch, try to keep the study for a Space station alive and Forsch order to modify the Skylab B ATM into Power module for Shuttle.
but that change radical with new President Ronald Reagan
the Reagan Administration swing the budget axe in all of NASA programs, like Interplanetary probes and ATM Power module for Shuttle and Space Station study were killed.
while new NASA administrator James M. Beggs focus more on, getting the Space Shuttle a commercial success
and Reagan was more interest for a Military space program (later SDI)


Until a CIA report show that Soviets, regaining in Space race with new Big launcher and bigger Space Station even build there version of Space shuttle
So Reagen order NASA for US Space Station
and here went terribly wrong administrator James M. Beggs or NASA management drop the 1972 Space station as obsolete and wanted something modern bigger impressive as Soviet Station
That became Space Station FREEDOM in 1984...
 
A sad story.
Congress,Presidents and public opinion were mindless in those years about space.
Before that crazy post Apollo plan absolutely unrealistic,after all those cuts!
Wisdom would a evolvable program spread on decades
Shuttle and Station goal for late 70s/1980
Space tugs in 90s
A return on the moon for late 90s
A new generation Shuttle for 2010s
Maybe Mars in 2020s.

Back then money were.
 
.


Would any of the fully (or nearly fully) re-useable Space Shuttle designs practical ?


Financially, the real life "cheap" design grew to dominate NASA's budget, one can only guess what the more complicated designs would have cost.


And the re-useable elements would have caused delay after delay and stretched the technology to the limits.


And, presumably, the problems with insulation "tiles" and length of turnaround periods would have been the same (and the turnaround might even have been worse !)


I would have loved to have seen a "proper" re-useable Space Shuttle, but I just doubt it would have been anything but a millstone around NASA's neck.


.
 
phil gollin said:
.
Would any of the fully (or nearly fully) re-useable Space Shuttle designs practical ?
Financially, the real life "cheap" design grew to dominate NASA's budget, one can only guess what the more complicated designs would have cost.
And the re-useable elements would have caused delay after delay and stretched the technology to the limits.
And, presumably, the problems with insulation "tiles" and length of turnaround periods would have been the same (and the turnaround might even have been worse !)
I would have loved to have seen a "proper" re-useable Space Shuttle, but I just doubt it would have been anything but a millstone around NASA's neck.
Click to expand...


Yes it would have, but with heavy price tag because R&D would be higher as STS
irony the maintenance would be cheaper as STS NASA build.
but NASA not got suffice money for that and to make matter worst
in time inexperienced James C. Fletcher not fight with US Congress for more money and just accept the facts.

next to big Hydro Lox booster with wings proposal,
they got Saturn F-1 Flayback proposal, the modified version of Saturn V first stage with Wings
it would have made Shuttle full compatible with Launch complex 39 for Saturn V
what could had looked something like this (illustration for Alternate history story)
 

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