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Space Transportation Systems Affordability, Responsiveness, Reliability and Safety
March 10, 2008

Affordability, DATA

February 6, 2008

Affordability, DATA

February 24, 2005

Rockets, Missions, Failure Rates, Data

The following data relates especially well to Space Transportation Systems Affordability, Responsiveness, Reliability and Safety. The quality of hardware and software systems, as manifest in launch vehicle failure rates, beckons for improvement. The visible failure rates, during flight, and the less visible failures during ground processing, causing unplanned work, are inter-connected quality and technology issues for the aero-industry.

2004

September 14, 2004

Design for Operations - D4Ops

It is envisioned that dramatically safer, lower cost, and higher flight rate access to space is possible by applying the wealth of experience gained from human space flight launch operations. Shuttle launch operations, particularly the world’s only reusable space plane elements, the orbiters, have accumulated a vast set of ideas, lessons learned, insight and “design for ops” experience. Current work such as the Shuttle Root Cause Analysis will add further insight to quantifiably understand why previous reusable launch systems are as costly as they are and why they take as long as they do to prepare for launch.

"D4OPS: DESIGN FOR OPERATIONS “FROM THE GROUND-UP” OPERABILITY DESIGN AND MODELING FOR FUTURE REUSABLE LAUNCH SYSTEMS (RLS), Prepared by A. CHARANIA, J. WALLACE, B. ST. GERMAIN, AND J. OLDS, SPACEWORKS ENGINEERING, INC. (SEI), 1200 Ashwood Parkway, Suite 506, Atlanta, GA 30338, (770) 379-8000, (770) 379-8001 Fax, www.sei.aero, info@sei.aero, 16 March 2004, Version 1.1, Prepared for EDGAR ZAPATA, SYSTEMS ENGINEERING OFFICE, NASA KENNEDY SPACE CENTER (KSC), KSC, FL 32899, (321) 867-6234, Contract No.: GS-10F-0455M, PUBLIC RELEASE IS AUTHORIZED".

June 1, 2004

Competitiveness, Economics, Monopolies, Acquisition Strategy

  • White Paper: "Independent Space Transportation Operator Concept, A Breakthrough Acquisition Strategy Using Independent Space Transportation Operators, Making Affordable and Sustainable Space Transportation Possible", C. McCleskey, Systems Engineering Office, Spaceport Engineering & Technology Directorate, NASA John F. Kennedy Space Center, Florida, May 18, 2004. Download .doc or download .pdf file.

"Air Mail Act of 1934 - Aerospace history can provide us some inspiration on this subject. The air transportation world in the early 1930s ran into the ethical problems that can often occur in completely vertical business arrangements with a narrow set of players. The issue was finally resolved through anti-trust legislation in the Airmail Act of 1934."

Operations - Reusable Thermal Protection Systems - TPS

The following file on Shuttle Orbiter Thermal Protection Systems (TPS) maintenance contains data that is extremely valuable to operations analysis such as relates to maintainability for one of the many complex systems on a reusable space transportation systems element. It is one piece of a much larger set of issues, including safety and reliability, relating to TPS systems, current and future. The CAIB report, coupled with the data herein, demonstrates how systems such as RCC can appear robust, but still be both un-safe and difficult to maintain, having an ill understood set of failure modes that can contribute to a low overall reliability/safety/operability.

  • "The Cost of Maintaining Thermal Protection Systems", Frank E. Jones, NASA Kennedy Space Center. Download (.ppt) or download (5MB .pdf)

From the CAIB report, page 83, "The wing leading edge Reinforced Carbon-Carbon composite material and associated support hardware are remarkably tough and have impact capabilities that far exceed the minimal impact resistance specified in their original design requirements. Nevertheless, these tests demonstrate that this inherent toughness can be exceeded by impacts representative of those that occurred during Columbia's ascent."

2003

CAIB Report, Safety, Reliability, Thermal Protection Systems

2002

  • The Rand Study -"Report of the Space Shuttle Competitive Sourcing Task Force" was released December 2002. Updated cost DATA on the Shuttle program is detailed in the reports.

2001

  • "Dr. Kurt H. Debus: Launching a Vision", C. McCleskey, NASA John F. Kennedy Space Center and D. Christensen, Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company, International Astronautical Federation (IAF-01), Toulouse, France, October 2001. Download (3MB .pdf).
  • DATA > A Review of Space Shuttle Data, Shuttle Orbiter Line Replaceable Units (LRUs) Replaced per Flight During Orbiter Processing Facility (OPF) Turnaround Operations

1999

1998

Space Shuttle Main Engines - SSME

For future systems to improve on the Space Shuttle it is extremely valuable to analyze and understand the Shuttle operations experience qualitatively and quantitatively. One such report follows specific to the Space Shuttle Main Engines (SSMEs).

  • NASA/TP—1998–208530, "Reusable Rocket Engine Operability Modeling and Analysis", R.L. Christenson and D.R. Komar Marshall Space Flight Center, Marshall Space Flight Center, Alabama. Download (1MB .pdf)

1997 

1996 

Rocket Engines, Reliability, Ground Processing & Operations, Maintainability

  • 1996 Report on "Rocket Engine Life Analysis", 59 pages, Download (15MB .pdf). This report describes methods to extend a rocket engines life, and to reduce failures, thereby reducing operational costs and increasing flight safety. Additionally, the DATA supports a means to avoid having to remove engines from flight to flight for future reusable systems, as done currently on Shuttle orbiters.

1995

Operations - Thermal Protection Systems - TPS

For future systems to improve on the Space Shuttle it is extremely valuable to analyze and understand the Shuttle operations experience both qualitatively and quantitatively. The Shuttle Thermal Protection System (TPS) experience is one such example.

  • "Space Shuttle Orbiter Thermal Protection System Processing Assessment Final Report", May 1995, Prepared by: Michael P. Gordon, TPS Orbiter Engineering, Materials & Processes, Rockwell Florida Operations D/830. No longer available on the web. For copies of this report, available for governmental purposes only, contact Edgar Zapata, at NASA KSC.

Space Shuttle Reliability, Safety, Loss of Vehicle

  • "1995 Probabalistic Risk Assessment of the Space Shuttle, A Study of the Potential of Losing the Vehicle During Nominal Operation". Download (6MB .pdf).

1993 - 1994

Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) Operations Synergy Team

These files date back to 1994 and the activity of the Operations Synergy Team. This predates the selection of Lockheed-Martin to build the X-33. The files are still very relevant to future technology pursuits and space transportation systems affordability.

1992 

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Website Contact: Edgar Zapata, NASA Kennedy Space Center