A collection of designs produced for alternate space shuttle configurations. This was the last gasp for configurations substantially different from what actually got built…. the second design from the far right became the baseline layout. But even with a recognizable orbiter and external tank, considerable variation was possible in overall launch vehicle layout. Not shown is a flyback booster option.
A NASA illustration from 1988 depicting a Shuttle C launch vehicle in flight.
A Grumman alternate Space Shuttle concept with a low cross range orbiter and a trio of 156-inch diameter solid propellant rockets for the first and second stages. The orbiter itself was stuffed with liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen tanks; even so, the high density of the solid rockets meant that the vehicle as a whole was remarkably compact.
Another basic concept from Grumman for an alternate shuttle concept. This one featured a pressure fed booster composed of three identical hydrogen/oxygen stages in parallel for the first stage, and two strap-on pressure-fed stages along the sides of the orbiter.
A Grumman alternate Space Shuttle concept with a low cross range orbiter and a series of pressue-fed storable-propellant rockets for the first and second stages. Pressure-fed boosters like this are heavy and relatively low-performance, but also relatively simple and cheap. The heavy construction required for the large high-pressure tanks makes them readily recoverable and refurbishable.
Sandy trashed the flimsy tent that had been covering the Shuttle, and appears to have ripped the tip off the vertical stabilizer.
I guess it’s a good thing that Enterprise wasn’t taken somewhere like the USAF Museum in Dayton, where it would be in a good solid hangar.
This isn’t the first time Enterprise has gotten damaged in NYC on the barge ride in it mashed into a bridge, banging up a wingtip:
I wonder if the rudder damage will be fixed in the same way the wingtip damage was fixed… by painting it.
I have a few doubts about the practicality of the plan described. Butr come on, it’s the Swiss. Anything is possible. What makes a man turn neutral?
From slides at the NASA HQ archive, two photos of a Convair “Triamese” space shuttle concept. See HERE for more on the Triamese.
Before Challenger ruined all hope of the Space Shuttle achieving its intended goals, there were many, many ideas put forth to increase the capabilities of the STS. Numerous concepts dealt with increasing the propulsion system… increased thrust and/or increased fuel mass. One of the less obvious ideas: stuff a massively reworked Titan II first stage underneath the external tank. This would increase liftoff thrust, increasing payload delivered to orbit. While Martin Marietta put some effort behind the concept, I don’t think NASA ever really took it very seriously.
This is from a slide scanned at the NASA HQ archive.
A piece of NASA artwork from 1976 showing who was responsible for what. This slide from the NASA HQ archive shows an *almost* final Space Shuttle; the differences between this and the actual STS are probably due to artistic error or omission rather than design differences (the longer aft skirts on the SRBs, the bigger “spike” on the nose of the ET, differences in the color/tiles on the Orbiter, etc.)
