Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!aplcen!uakari.primate.wisc.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!rpi!uupsi!pbs!pstinson
From: pstinson@pbs.org
Newsgroups: sci.space.shuttle
Subject: best of all worlds
Message-ID: <10265.2708917a@pbs.org>
Date: 2 Oct 90 17:09:14 GMT
Organization: PBS:Public Broadcasting Service, Alexandria, VA
Lines: 23

The cargo bay of the Shuttle could hold an Apollo command & service module
inside it.  Unfortunately, there are no more flight worthy Apollos on hand.

We could design the next generation Apollo as a lunar taxi that would fit
inside a Shuttle.  This craft, possibly called Artemis (the sister of Apollo),
would be modular in design and carried into orbit with one or two shuttle
launches, using the Earth Orbit Rendezvous scheme that was one time considered
for Apollo before the Lunar Orbit Rendezvous approach was selected.

For safety reasons it would be carried into orbit without fuel.  The fuel and
propulsion module would be launched by a Titan IV.  Assembly would take place
at a modest Space Operations Center (SOC) as once outlined before space station
Freedom was choosen.

The whole lunar taxi would land on the moon and later return to the SOC in
earth orbit.  Another shuttle launch would bring up a new supply module for the
next lunar run.  Another Titan would launch a new propulsion module.  The old,
now empty, propulsion module would be carried back to Earth by the Shuttle
where it would be serviced and launched again by a Titan for a later mission.

If we make use of what we already have - all of it - Shutles and expendibles,
we could design everything to work together giving us regular access to the
moon.