Expert: Jayendra Upadhye - 3/10/2008

Question
Suppose we redesign the Space Shuttle with its External Tank (ET) as a Heavy Lift Vehicle (HLV).
Then after lifting satellites, we attach six HLVs together, remove the empty fuel tanks, and use the HLV shells and tanks as infrastructure in Low Earth Orbit.
The used ET’s in space are the wrong shape.
Each time a Shuttle goes up, the majority of what goes up comes back down.
How about lift a very small 36 man CRT lifted with every launch.
Several organizations are developing that idea.
Let the public go up.
After every six launches a new piece of infrastructure in space can open for business as a 72-unit hotel or an 84-unit condominium. (condo)
Sell the infrastructure pre launch and let the people own the infrastructure.
Suppose Brazil, China, ESA, NASA, and Russia the all used the same design.
We will have new infrastructure to sleep an additional 3000 people in space every year.
We have gone public with a design that could allow the forgoing become reality by 2018.

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Answer
Hello Trevor,

Nice dreams..
But indeed well dreamt dreams someday have a possibility to succeed!


Sometimes we have to pay attention to ground realities.

such as..
1 - Keeping a large number of people happy in a closed environment,
2 - Designing large enough ships that can also carry their own weight into orbit with a lower weight penalty.
3 - Recycling waste more efficiently and in large quantity.
4 - lgistics of supplies to space.

Look up this site:- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle

Indeeed as you say, the current International space station (ISS) has some Soyuz components and some shutle components to it.
(i may be mistaken i am not sure).

The main problem is that the greater the weight you put in space, the greater is the initial launch weight of the ship.
(the weight of fuel that you are going to burn up any way.
This fact causes the inefficient payload ratios of today. (you put say 1/10th the weight in orbit that you actually launch).

You will need better fuels (i wonder if anything can excel oxygen hydrogen that we already use).

Also disaster management will be a problem. Imagine telling 36 guys.."hey you may die this lauch, so be prepared!".
You wont get many willing customers that way.

Also people get bored very fast no matter how good the view. The cramped quarters (by earth standards) would soon bring out the "pub" mentality in people. A single brawl could be fatal for the crew and men.
space fires are deadly as tehy eat up the most valuable commodity in space, oxygen!

Think of akll this, and if you over come all of that, your dream will happily come true.

please do rate the answer.

regards
Jayen