Technology requirements for an orbiting fuel depot - A necessary element of a space infrastructureAdvanced planning within NASA has identified several bold space exploration initiatives. The successful implementation of these missions will require a supporting space infrastructure which would include a fuel depot, an orbiting facility to store, transfer and process large quantities of cryogenic fluids. In order to adequately plan the technology development programs required to enable the construction and operation of a fuel depot, a multidisciplinary workshop was convened to assess critical technologies and their state of maturity. Since technology requirements depend strongly on the depot design assumptions, several depot concepts are presented with their effect of criticality ratings. Over 70 depot-related technology areas are addressed.
Document ID
19890030270
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Stubbs, R. M. (NASA Lewis Research Center Cleveland, OH, United States)
Corban, R. R. (NASA Lewis Research Center Cleveland, OH, United States)
Willoughby, A. J. (Analex Corp. Cleveland, OH, United States)