Manned Spacecraft Design Principles

Introduction and Outline of a Spacecraft Design Report

This book has its origin in a handbook developed to support a one-semester course in which student teams were formed to carry out a preliminary design for a space transportation system capable of carrying astronauts to rendezvous with and dock at the International Space Station (ISS) for a given period of time, and then to return the crew safely to Earth. This mission, though limited in scope, forms a sound basis for considering the broader one of returning people to the moon and visiting other planets and asteroids.

I.1 Subjects Covered

Chapter 1 begins with the space race precipitated by the convergence of reduced weight nuclear weapons and increased payload capability of ballistic missiles. ...