Name: Michael G.
ProgramYear: 2008
Submit Date: May 24, 2008
Review Date: May 27, 2008

Final Project

My final project is over my CEV, the SCRAMSHUTTLE. To begin I think that we should invest in the re intivations of the now worn out space shuttles with a new set of Propulsion systems, Guidance, and Escape systems. The propulsion on the Scram Shuttle is four rocket boosters, four Scram-jets, and four XIPS, Xenon Ion Propulsion System, drive engines. The four rocket boosters, located at the back of the shuttle, are paired in an up and down formation and are at the end of the rear wing. The rockets will push the shuttle up to at least Mach two and activate the Scram-jets. Scram-jets use the air flowing through them to super heat the fuel and caused the explosion of thrust out the rear of the jet to propel the shuttle and crew up to Mach four and have enough power to propel them into space. When the air runs out in the atmosphere before the shuttle gets into space, as a failsafe, the rockets will fire in bursts to insure the shuttle reaches space. When the shuttle breaks the atmosphere and is in space’s constant free-fall the Ion rockets will be used to propel the Shuttle for as long as needed. XIPS, Xenon Ion Propulsion System, is the system I would use for the ion drive inside the shuttle while in space. XIPS allows for a reduction in propellant Mass of up to 90% equaling the reduced cost for launch therefore not much use for a lot of rocket fuel, and increase in payload capacity. XIPS uses impulse generated by a thruster ejecting electrically charged particles at high velocities. XIPS only requires one propellant, Xenon. Thrust in a XIPS is created by accelerating the positive ions through a series of gridded electrodes as one end of the thrust chamber. Ion Extraction assembly, electrodes, create more than 3,000 tiny beams of thrust. To prevent them from being attracted back to the thruster you would have to use a electron-emitting device called a neutralizer. The guidance on the Shuttle consist of the flight control system hardware, rendezvous thrusting maneuvers, inertial measurements units, star trackers, TACAN, air data system, radar altimeter, accelerometer assemblies, rotational hand controller, translational hand controller, control stick steering push button light indicator, speed brake/ thrust controller, body flap switches, RHC/Panel Enable/Inhibit, Trim switches, aerosurface servoamplifiers and the digital autopilot. Each piece of GN&C is hard wired to one of eight flight-critical multiplexers/demultiplexers. The rendezvous thrust maneuvers are navigation aid on board the orbiter included the three inertial measurement units, three tactical air navigation units, two air data probes, three microwave scan beam landing system and two radar altimeters. The IMUs consist of an all-attitude, four-gimbals, inertly stable platform. The life support on the Scram shuttle consists of the crew compartment cabin pressurization, cabin air revitalization, water coolant loop system, active thermal control system, supply and waste water, waste collection system, waste water tank, airlock support, extravehicular activity mobility units, crew altitude protection system, and radioisotope thermoelectric generator cooling and gaseous nitrogen purge for payloads. The main landing gears will consist of a conventional aircraft tricycle configuration consisting of a nose gear and a left and right main gear. The nose gear will be steerable. The nose gear will be located at the lower forward fuselage and the main gears are located in the rear fuselage of the shuttle and fold out of the rear of fuselage. Finally the emergency systems consist of the ODSP (Orbital Drop Shock Pod) and the emergency bailout system. The ODSP is used for emergency bailout in space. If the shuttle becomes inoperable during the space mission the astronauts enter the ODSP and activate the override for the release of the ODSP and head for the earth like the pods from the Apollo program when the astronauts returned from the moon back to earth. My opinion about the shuttle is that it will be a better way of allowing more people to enter space at one time instead of always having to send up two or more shuttles of five when my shuttle can deliver around fifteen at most with not as much cargo but a second can be sent that only has pilots and all the necessary essentials to keep the astronauts alive. I mostly got the idea for the SCRAMSHUTTLE by reading sci-fi books and actually looking at the shuttles in use now. I figure instead of actually retiring the older shuttle we should just give it a makeover and give it more horsepower for extended use and also make it safer for the crew to escape and live in the case of an emergency like the Columbia crew. Another thing that gave me the idea of the shuttle is my creativity with Lego’s. I have built loads of ships from them and once I learned about the scram jets and the XIPS drive I incorporated those designs into one of my previous creations and that confirmed my decision on building the SCRAMSHUTTLE. I figured that why wait to use those for everyday use when we can use them to help our astronauts get back into space, get to the moon in less time and build the moon base, and then turn around and launch towards Mars on a continual burn in which they will reach Mars in a shorter time and getting them back too from Mars to the moon base. I think that the shuttle still has some years left in it for use in future missions if only it had a major technological reinvention of itself with today’s even more sophisticated equipment and technology even if it is still in the prototype stage. In the end I think that it would be a good idea to just hold back on future designs of the space CEV until we have a clear view of when, where, and what we are trying to achieve in our conquest to go “boldly where no man has gone before.”(Captain Kurk.)

http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/shuttle/reference/shutref/orbiter/eclss/ http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/shuttle/reference/shutref/orbiter/lgear/ http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/shuttle/reference/basics/landing.html http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/shuttle/reference/shutref/orbiter/avionics/gnc/ http://spaceflight/nasa.gov/shuttle/reference/shutref/escape/ Popular Science Magazine