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The Future of Flight: NASA Wants 4-Person Space Plane
By Brian Berger
Space News Staff Writer
posted: 11:30 am ET
19 February 2003
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space_plane_030219WASHINGTON -- NASA's top level requirements for the envisioned Orbital Space Plane mandate that the rocket-launched crew transfer vehicle be capable of transporting "no fewer than four" astronauts to and from the International Space Station. That requirement leaves open the possibility that the Orbital Space Plane could carry fewer astronauts than the Crew Rescue Vehicle NASA had originally planned to build for the space station. The Crew Rescue Vehicle, a victim of cutbacks ordered after the discovery of a looming $5 billion space station budget shortfall, was being designed to carry six or seven astronauts away from the station in event of an emergency. NASA intended to release the so-called Level 1 requirements for the Orbital Space Plane on Feb. 3, but the formal rollout was postponed due to the Columbia accident. NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe asked his Executive Council, lead by NASA Deputy Administrator Fred Gregory, to revisit the requirements in light of the Feb. 1 loss of Columbia over Texas. It was not immediately clear what changes, if any, had been made to the requirements. The Level 1 requirements are meant to give the aerospace companies that would compete to build the system a good idea of what NASA wants. Among the requirements: The Orbital Space Plane would initially launch atop an expendable rocket, such as a Delta 4 or Atlas 5. It should be ready to carry astronauts to and from the station by no later than 2012. It must have life support systems sufficient to allow the crew to operate the system without first donning flight suits. It must be at least as reliable as the Russian Soyuz capsule that currently serves as the station's lifeboat. It should be more reliable, more maneuverable and quicker to prepare for launch than the space shuttle. A more detailed set of requirements, dubbed the Level 2s, will be completed by the Orbital Space Plane Program Office by late 2003.
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