alternatehistory.com
1972: NASA hell of a year (16)
July 5, 1972
Downey, California
Harrison "Stormy" Storms made his way to Willard Rockwell office. Future of his space division was in limbo, a situation that couldn't last very long.
After the shuttle debacle Rockwell top management had made a 180 degree turn. They had been once an enthusiastic supporter of the Shuttle and a faithfull ally to NASA Johnson space center quest for that program.
But the shuttle had been canned and in the ensuing capsule race McDonnell Douglas Big Gemini had just beaten Rockwell's Apollo. Storms then learned that the company boss had decided to bet everything on an Apollo lifeboat rather than a shuttle revival, for a simple reason: Apollo was already flying when the shuttle was at best a plywood mockup.
So North American Rockwell would focuse on capsules rather than space planes, on Apollo before Shuttle.
The decision had already cost them a talented engineer.
His interestingWindjammer space plane project under his arm, Len Cormier had left to Boeing. Cormier had little interest in capsules, while his Windjammer space plane interested not only Boeing but the military - the all-powerful SAMSO, the ballistic missile organization brainchild of Bernard Schriever and Simon Ramo.
Len Cormier Windjammer, 1972 (more on this one later)
Storms felt that Boeing made a marked contrast to Rockwell. Not only had they lost the Supersonic Transport the year before, they had also been out of the shuttle business early on. Yet, even with that couple of failures, they had shown interested in Cormier Windjammer.
Harrison Storms slammed its fist on Willard Rockwell desk. “Damn it ! To think the fuckers preferred Helios to our Block III Apollo."
“Stormy, how did we lost our edge ? we were frontrunner for the orbiter contract, and Apollo is current NASA manned ship.”
“They preferred Helios because the goddam thing superficially looks like a space shuttle. A six-man cockpit landing on a runway at the end of the mission, a large cargo section you can adapt to the mission needs. To think it will cost them three or four billion dollars… a modified Apollo would have been barely over a billion. We would have introduced upgrades with blocks, up to 1980.
“Well, the hell with them: we won’t give up Apollo. Its shape is too good to be lost. We will flood NASA with Apollo-based projects, until they give us something to go along the S-II core station. I will lobby.”
Storms looked at Rockwell, a smile on his face.
“I know how we can continue Apollo, even with Helios. You know that with the shuttle dead NASA has an incremental program. Titan, spare Saturns, Skylab and S-II derived space station modules, F-1A and XLR-129 engine demonstrators. Well, we should add our Apollo command module to this shopping list. They forget an essential element in their space station plan.”
“Which is ?”
“Rescue. That Marooned movie scared the hell out of NASA, to the point we build a fourth Skylab Apollo and modified it with five couches, to rescue any crew stranded at the space station."
“do you suggest we turn Apollo into the space station lifeboat ?”
“Exactly. In fact the fun thing is that NASA actually gave us a contract for that ! We have been making a broad study entitled Safety in Earth orbit. The final report is to be published next week - how about that ? Look at the conclusion"
If there is a time period at the beginning of the shuttle program (or during the mature shuttle operational period) when shuttle rescue is not possible because of the non availability of a rescue shuttle , launch pad, orother reason, an Apollo command module (CM) should be carried inthe orbiter cargo bay as an escape vehicle.
This can be a refurbished comand module with up to six seats, and with capability for reentry from earth orbit and water landing. The CM should be pressurized at 8 psi to allow rapid shirtsleeve entry of the personnel without the danger of getting "bends." This escape CM is the most cost-effective of the escape and rescue vehicles considered.
"Damn, that's fine, and comes at the right moment." Rockwell smiled.
"You said it. Imagine a Command Module stripped to the bones, with every lunar gear gone and a thinner heatshield and no service module. The escape system can be deleted, because the crew reach the space station in Helios. My calculations show that even with heavier two gas atmosphere and land landing systems the command module mass can be cut to 10 000 pounds. Light enough to be launched by a beefed up Atlas.”
“Or a core-only Titan III-B. Excellent. Will we build new command modules ?”
“I don’t think its necessary. Look, they want an incremental program recycling past hardware ? Okay. We have some Apollos left, notably those of the two canned lunar missions Apollo 19 and Apollo 20. CSM-115 and CSM-115A were never completed.
“So let’s turn this into a handful of prototypes; one outfitted with land landing systems, another with a two gas atmosphere, the last with the new androgynous docking gear build for the joint flight with the soviets.
Ground-based mockups first, eventually launch one to the space station. Turning past Command Modules into ground-based mockups won’t cost a lot of money; then with a bit of lobby, and a foot in the door, we will convince NASA to buy new Apollos outfitted as lifeboats.
We will use this Apollo lifeboat as a kind of Trojan horse to gain access tothe 1980 space station, and one day beat the Douglas Company out of the manned spaceflight business.”
Storms grinned triumphantly.
“by the way, our Apollo lifeboat may bring payloads back to Earth if no emergency. Indeed four or five months in space surely will wear the thing out. So you need another Apollo to replace it. Send the used capsule back to Earth with any payload you like…”
"Sounds good."
North American lobby was paying up. They had now the space station core module, they would have the Apollo lifeboat.
“Stormy, we lost the race for the next manned ship. What is our situation in the front of the space station effort ?” Rockwell asked.
“Well, first I have to brief you over the space station history. A tipping point has been July 29, 1970. Before that day, massive 33ft diameter space stations would be launched by a truncated Saturn V, the INT-21.
But in that year 1970 the Saturn V was agonizing. Production had been suspended at the 15th vehicle in July 1968; then on January 1970 the production line had been definitively shut down.
So that day of July NASA decided that the future space station would be launched, by the shuttle, cutting the modules to 15 ft in diameter.
That was a setback in size, but worse things were also happening.
Unlike the Saturn V that was already in service, the shuttle was not to fly until 1978 at the earliest. The space station was to await the shuttle IOC, pushing it well into the 80's.
Then a year later the shuttle was canned and the space station was back to square one. A compromise has been found recently that Saturns would be back as space station launch vehicles – but only those boosters left by the Apollo program.
It amounts to a couple of Saturn Vs and a handful of Saturn Ibs – just enough Apollo boosters were left to build a multi-modular orbital outpost.
At some point McDonnel Douglas found itself in a situation of monopoly – with Big Gemini and Skylab. We protested about that and ultimately managed to steal the space station core – now designed around our S-II.
You know, I come across a short study we made two years ago about an interim space station. We called it “Spirit of 76' because it was to be launched in the bicentennary year. I think you will like it – we were rather prescient those days.
(note: the following has drawn inspiration from David Portree blog entry - linked above)
We proposed that NASA postponed Shuttle development and instead in 1976 launch a prototype Phase B Station on a two-stage Saturn V. I mean, not a goddam Skylab: a TRUE space station that would be manned permanently. Back then we did an analysis that, as of today, sounds pretty good.
We argued about a Station-first phased approach as superior to NASA Shuttle-first phased approach because the Shuttle would demand a much greater technological leap than would the Station. This meant that it might hit development roadblocks that would increase its estimated cost and delay its first launch.
In addition, the Spirit of '76 Station could better address the emerging post-Apollo space priorities of President Richard Nixon. These included international space cooperation and direct benefits to people on Earth.
Our Spirit of '76 Station was outwardly very similar to the Phase B Station, albeit we cut on the 10-year life orbital time.
After no NASA piloted flights in 1975, the Spirit of '76 Station would reach Earth orbit early the following year. As its name implies, it would be staffed during the U.S. Bicentennial festivities on 4 July 1976. The orbiting Station would stand as a "source of national pride" as the United States celebrated its 200th birthday. Four consecutive three-person crews would launch to the Station for overlapping six-month stays.
In the absence of a Shuttle Orbiter, we invoked two-stage Saturn IB rockets and modified Apollo Command and Service Module (CSM) spacecraft as its Spirit of '76 crew transports. The Apollo would turn by 180 degree and picks a cylindrical cargo module on its nose, LM-style.
The second crew would arrive after three months, increasing the Spirit of '76 crew complement to six. Three months later, at the end of a six-month stay in space, the first crew would depart and the third crew would arrive. The fourth crew would replace the second crew three months after that. The third crew would return to Earth three months later.
And now the most interesting part – which was very prescient of the current situation we face.
We offered an Apollo – station bid based on solid numbers.
We offered two funding models for the Spirit of '76 Station.
Both would require a $2.3-billion Spirit of '76 Station, four Cargo Modules at a cost of $9 million each, and $220 million for experiments.
The first funding model, with a cost of $2.8 billion spread over six years, assumed use of re-purposed or leftover Apollo and Skylab rockets and spacecraft.
It would see the CSMs built for Apollo 18 (designated 114) and Apollo 19 (115) diverted from the lunar program. Along with the Skylab backup/rescue CSM (119) and 115A, which was committed to no program, they would be converted into Spirit of '76 Station ferries.
Ending Apollo with mission 17 would free up two Saturn V rockets (514 and 515, the last remaining of the original Apollo Program buy), one of which would launch the Spirit of '76 Station. The four CSMs would reach Earth orbit on the last remaining Saturn IBs (designated 209, 210, 211, and 212).
And now, things gets even more interesting. We created another Spirit of '76 funding model, with a total cost of $3.1 billion, would see lunar missions continue through Apollo 19 in the fourth quarter of 1974.
Most importantly, NASA would buy two new CSMs (120 and 121) and convert 119 and 115A for the Spirit of '76 program. A new two-stage Saturn V (516) for launching the Spirit of '76 Station would cost $260 million including launch operations.
Of course our spirit of 76' station could be mothballed in orbit and re-activated when the shuttle would enter service. To accelerate the schedule we suggested an external tank orbiter mated to an expendable S-IC, later to be replaced by a reusable flyback booster.
Willard (Rockwell) I think we should try and bid according to that document as a last ditch atempt." Harrison Storms concluded.
Downey, California
Harrison "Stormy" Storms made his way to Willard Rockwell office. Future of his space division was in limbo, a situation that couldn't last very long.
After the shuttle debacle Rockwell top management had made a 180 degree turn. They had been once an enthusiastic supporter of the Shuttle and a faithfull ally to NASA Johnson space center quest for that program.
But the shuttle had been canned and in the ensuing capsule race McDonnell Douglas Big Gemini had just beaten Rockwell's Apollo. Storms then learned that the company boss had decided to bet everything on an Apollo lifeboat rather than a shuttle revival, for a simple reason: Apollo was already flying when the shuttle was at best a plywood mockup.
So North American Rockwell would focuse on capsules rather than space planes, on Apollo before Shuttle.
The decision had already cost them a talented engineer.
His interestingWindjammer space plane project under his arm, Len Cormier had left to Boeing. Cormier had little interest in capsules, while his Windjammer space plane interested not only Boeing but the military - the all-powerful SAMSO, the ballistic missile organization brainchild of Bernard Schriever and Simon Ramo.
Len Cormier Windjammer, 1972 (more on this one later)
Storms felt that Boeing made a marked contrast to Rockwell. Not only had they lost the Supersonic Transport the year before, they had also been out of the shuttle business early on. Yet, even with that couple of failures, they had shown interested in Cormier Windjammer.
Harrison Storms slammed its fist on Willard Rockwell desk. “Damn it ! To think the fuckers preferred Helios to our Block III Apollo."
“Stormy, how did we lost our edge ? we were frontrunner for the orbiter contract, and Apollo is current NASA manned ship.”
“They preferred Helios because the goddam thing superficially looks like a space shuttle. A six-man cockpit landing on a runway at the end of the mission, a large cargo section you can adapt to the mission needs. To think it will cost them three or four billion dollars… a modified Apollo would have been barely over a billion. We would have introduced upgrades with blocks, up to 1980.
“Well, the hell with them: we won’t give up Apollo. Its shape is too good to be lost. We will flood NASA with Apollo-based projects, until they give us something to go along the S-II core station. I will lobby.”
Storms looked at Rockwell, a smile on his face.
“I know how we can continue Apollo, even with Helios. You know that with the shuttle dead NASA has an incremental program. Titan, spare Saturns, Skylab and S-II derived space station modules, F-1A and XLR-129 engine demonstrators. Well, we should add our Apollo command module to this shopping list. They forget an essential element in their space station plan.”
“Which is ?”
“Rescue. That Marooned movie scared the hell out of NASA, to the point we build a fourth Skylab Apollo and modified it with five couches, to rescue any crew stranded at the space station."
“do you suggest we turn Apollo into the space station lifeboat ?”
“Exactly. In fact the fun thing is that NASA actually gave us a contract for that ! We have been making a broad study entitled Safety in Earth orbit. The final report is to be published next week - how about that ? Look at the conclusion"
If there is a time period at the beginning of the shuttle program (or during the mature shuttle operational period) when shuttle rescue is not possible because of the non availability of a rescue shuttle , launch pad, orother reason, an Apollo command module (CM) should be carried inthe orbiter cargo bay as an escape vehicle.
This can be a refurbished comand module with up to six seats, and with capability for reentry from earth orbit and water landing. The CM should be pressurized at 8 psi to allow rapid shirtsleeve entry of the personnel without the danger of getting "bends." This escape CM is the most cost-effective of the escape and rescue vehicles considered.
"Damn, that's fine, and comes at the right moment." Rockwell smiled.
"You said it. Imagine a Command Module stripped to the bones, with every lunar gear gone and a thinner heatshield and no service module. The escape system can be deleted, because the crew reach the space station in Helios. My calculations show that even with heavier two gas atmosphere and land landing systems the command module mass can be cut to 10 000 pounds. Light enough to be launched by a beefed up Atlas.”
“Or a core-only Titan III-B. Excellent. Will we build new command modules ?”
“I don’t think its necessary. Look, they want an incremental program recycling past hardware ? Okay. We have some Apollos left, notably those of the two canned lunar missions Apollo 19 and Apollo 20. CSM-115 and CSM-115A were never completed.
“So let’s turn this into a handful of prototypes; one outfitted with land landing systems, another with a two gas atmosphere, the last with the new androgynous docking gear build for the joint flight with the soviets.
Ground-based mockups first, eventually launch one to the space station. Turning past Command Modules into ground-based mockups won’t cost a lot of money; then with a bit of lobby, and a foot in the door, we will convince NASA to buy new Apollos outfitted as lifeboats.
We will use this Apollo lifeboat as a kind of Trojan horse to gain access tothe 1980 space station, and one day beat the Douglas Company out of the manned spaceflight business.”
Storms grinned triumphantly.
“by the way, our Apollo lifeboat may bring payloads back to Earth if no emergency. Indeed four or five months in space surely will wear the thing out. So you need another Apollo to replace it. Send the used capsule back to Earth with any payload you like…”
"Sounds good."
North American lobby was paying up. They had now the space station core module, they would have the Apollo lifeboat.
“Stormy, we lost the race for the next manned ship. What is our situation in the front of the space station effort ?” Rockwell asked.
“Well, first I have to brief you over the space station history. A tipping point has been July 29, 1970. Before that day, massive 33ft diameter space stations would be launched by a truncated Saturn V, the INT-21.
But in that year 1970 the Saturn V was agonizing. Production had been suspended at the 15th vehicle in July 1968; then on January 1970 the production line had been definitively shut down.
So that day of July NASA decided that the future space station would be launched, by the shuttle, cutting the modules to 15 ft in diameter.
That was a setback in size, but worse things were also happening.
Unlike the Saturn V that was already in service, the shuttle was not to fly until 1978 at the earliest. The space station was to await the shuttle IOC, pushing it well into the 80's.
Then a year later the shuttle was canned and the space station was back to square one. A compromise has been found recently that Saturns would be back as space station launch vehicles – but only those boosters left by the Apollo program.
It amounts to a couple of Saturn Vs and a handful of Saturn Ibs – just enough Apollo boosters were left to build a multi-modular orbital outpost.
At some point McDonnel Douglas found itself in a situation of monopoly – with Big Gemini and Skylab. We protested about that and ultimately managed to steal the space station core – now designed around our S-II.
You know, I come across a short study we made two years ago about an interim space station. We called it “Spirit of 76' because it was to be launched in the bicentennary year. I think you will like it – we were rather prescient those days.
(note: the following has drawn inspiration from David Portree blog entry - linked above)
We proposed that NASA postponed Shuttle development and instead in 1976 launch a prototype Phase B Station on a two-stage Saturn V. I mean, not a goddam Skylab: a TRUE space station that would be manned permanently. Back then we did an analysis that, as of today, sounds pretty good.
We argued about a Station-first phased approach as superior to NASA Shuttle-first phased approach because the Shuttle would demand a much greater technological leap than would the Station. This meant that it might hit development roadblocks that would increase its estimated cost and delay its first launch.
In addition, the Spirit of '76 Station could better address the emerging post-Apollo space priorities of President Richard Nixon. These included international space cooperation and direct benefits to people on Earth.
Our Spirit of '76 Station was outwardly very similar to the Phase B Station, albeit we cut on the 10-year life orbital time.
After no NASA piloted flights in 1975, the Spirit of '76 Station would reach Earth orbit early the following year. As its name implies, it would be staffed during the U.S. Bicentennial festivities on 4 July 1976. The orbiting Station would stand as a "source of national pride" as the United States celebrated its 200th birthday. Four consecutive three-person crews would launch to the Station for overlapping six-month stays.
In the absence of a Shuttle Orbiter, we invoked two-stage Saturn IB rockets and modified Apollo Command and Service Module (CSM) spacecraft as its Spirit of '76 crew transports. The Apollo would turn by 180 degree and picks a cylindrical cargo module on its nose, LM-style.
The second crew would arrive after three months, increasing the Spirit of '76 crew complement to six. Three months later, at the end of a six-month stay in space, the first crew would depart and the third crew would arrive. The fourth crew would replace the second crew three months after that. The third crew would return to Earth three months later.
And now the most interesting part – which was very prescient of the current situation we face.
We offered an Apollo – station bid based on solid numbers.
We offered two funding models for the Spirit of '76 Station.
Both would require a $2.3-billion Spirit of '76 Station, four Cargo Modules at a cost of $9 million each, and $220 million for experiments.
The first funding model, with a cost of $2.8 billion spread over six years, assumed use of re-purposed or leftover Apollo and Skylab rockets and spacecraft.
It would see the CSMs built for Apollo 18 (designated 114) and Apollo 19 (115) diverted from the lunar program. Along with the Skylab backup/rescue CSM (119) and 115A, which was committed to no program, they would be converted into Spirit of '76 Station ferries.
Ending Apollo with mission 17 would free up two Saturn V rockets (514 and 515, the last remaining of the original Apollo Program buy), one of which would launch the Spirit of '76 Station. The four CSMs would reach Earth orbit on the last remaining Saturn IBs (designated 209, 210, 211, and 212).
And now, things gets even more interesting. We created another Spirit of '76 funding model, with a total cost of $3.1 billion, would see lunar missions continue through Apollo 19 in the fourth quarter of 1974.
Most importantly, NASA would buy two new CSMs (120 and 121) and convert 119 and 115A for the Spirit of '76 program. A new two-stage Saturn V (516) for launching the Spirit of '76 Station would cost $260 million including launch operations.
Of course our spirit of 76' station could be mothballed in orbit and re-activated when the shuttle would enter service. To accelerate the schedule we suggested an external tank orbiter mated to an expendable S-IC, later to be replaced by a reusable flyback booster.
Willard (Rockwell) I think we should try and bid according to that document as a last ditch atempt." Harrison Storms concluded.
- Archibald
- Word Count: 2k