Paper Session III-A - America\u27s Space Transportation System for the 1990\u27s and Beyond

NASA and the nation are again at a point of decision concerning the future direction of space exploration and space exploitation. Many new initiatives have been proposed for future exploration and colonization of the solar system, including an outpost on the moon and, eventually, a permanent Martian base. The transportation system required to implement these bold, new initiatives must be a powerful one—able to explore new frontiers, transport large amounts of cargo, and guarantee safety and reliability well into the next century. NASA must now decide how to implement these goals. Through ongoing NASA upgrades and evolution programs, the current transportation system, the Space Shuttle, can evolve to meet the mission requirements of the 1990s and beyond. The broad scope of these evolutionary studies encompasses both the Shuttle and Shuttle-derived vehicles, such as Shuttle-C. Shuttle evolution delays the requirement for a new lowearth- orbit space transportation system well into the next century, when significantly new mission requirements and/or the development of new enabling technology may justify a new system. This paper discusses the ongoing programs sponsored by NASA and Rockwell that will evolve the Shuttle into the space transportation system for the future. These programs include NASA\u27s Assured Shuttle Availability Program, which will develop and implement cost-effective Shuttle improvements, and Rockwejl\u27s IR&D projects, which are targeted at avoiding Shuttle system obsolescence and improving Shuttle safety, operations cost, and performance margin