KSC Next Gen Site ___Questions? Comments?
What is Design for Support?
"Design for Support"
Systems parts count reduced, leakage sites reduced, meaning less hands-on work to process at the launch site, fewer different fluids to service at the launch site, fewer launch site facilities and equipment to operate and maintain...
vs. "Traditional Design"
Systems proliferation as the system is broekn into an extreme number of independent sub-systems to increase near term manageability, parts count increased, leakage sites increased, meaning more hands-on work at the launch site, more fluids to service at the launch site, more launch site facilities and equipment to operate and maintain...
These pictures are from an excercise in the Operationally Efficient Propulsion System Study (OEPSS). It is an example of the difference between a traditional "support the design" approach, whereby operations support is a consequence of a design that does not change due to any operational consequences, versus a "design for support" approach that sees the product long term as an operational product, not a product that ends at manufacture. One of the keys to the success of the Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) Program must be to "design for support" if we are ever to bring about our goal of routine, affordable access to space.
On the Path to Affordable Access to Space...
The systems shown are ascent and descent stages of, for example, a lunar lander. The facilities represent the infrastructure that the designs would require at the launch site prior to launch.
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Also see:
- Space Transportation Systems Affordability, Responsiveness, Reliability and Safety
- Operationally Efficient
Propulsion System Study (OEPSS), 1992
- SOFTWARE > The Launch Operability Index (LOI)
- Integrated Modular Engine / Propulsion
- Videos & Reports ... more>
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Website Contact: Edgar Zapata, NASA Kennedy Space Center