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Mission Analysis
INTRODUCTION
A manned spacecraft has as its purpose the carrying of its crew through space to fulfill the mission(s) that the crew has undertaken. The
spacecraft design is obviously strongly influenced by the environment of space in almost every detail aspect. The spacecraft must carry and
replenish its atmosphere. It must provide protection against the radiations and micro meteoroids of space. It can only dissipate heat
externally through radiation. It is in a virtually frictionless medium and will coast without loss of energy in accordance with the momentum it
possesses and the gravitational attraction of the masses within the solar system. To change its course or velocity, however, it must not only
expend energy but also reaction mass. Most importantly, the entire design of a spacecraft is predominated by the extremely high premium on
weight and volume.

An expendable launch system is a launch system which uses an expendable launch vehicle (ELV) which throws away the rocket in order to
launch the "payload". Usually the launch vehicle components are not recovered for re-use since the goal is to get the load into low Earth
orbit. An exception to this is the Falcon 9 vehicle (launched in 2013) in which the SpaceX company tried to recover some part of the
expended stages.

Expendable launchers have been simple modifications of 1950s era ballistic missiles. In practice the Expendable launchers are cheaper than
the space shuttle (which is a reusable launch vehicle), have a low risk of mission failure and a short time to launch. Most satellites are
launched using expendable launchers.

Originally reusable launch vehicles were introduced to provide the possibility of low cost and reliable access to space but reusability
introduced weight penalties such as non-ablative reentry shielding and stronger structure.

THE SPACE VEHICLE SYSTEM

Although it may be possible, spacecraft are not designed to operate in an independent manner. The flight of a spacecraft is assisted by a large
complex of facilities on the earth that play vital roles in every phase of the operation.
Description Figure

The main problem of getting to orbit is to accelerate to Mach


26 - or a speed of about 8 kilometers / second. To accelerate,
one needs to use fuel - or propellants, because liquid propellant
rocket engines use fuel and oxidizer.

A lot of propellant is needed to get to orbit. Hence the space


vehicle is mostly propellant tank.To get to orbit, a rocket needs
to be about 90% propellants. Thus the rest of the rocket
(including structures, electronics, payload, passengers etc)
weigh only 10% . The rocket structure is a very light and strong
structure, which can survive large acceleration, vibration and
aerodynamic stresses. Today, most satellites are launched on
"multi-stage" rockets wherein only a small part of the rocket
actually reaches high speeds and goes to orbit. Thus the first
and second stages can be heavier while the remaining stages
and structure is designed to be light and strong.

Of all the shapes, a sphere has the smallest surface area for a
volume. Thus to make a light structure containing propellant it
is best to make it as nearly spherical as possible. Since a
sphere's not very aerodynamic, so a "Single Stage To Orbit
(SSTO)" launch vehicle needs to be a bit pointed at one end.

It is also common practice to consider the rocket propulsion stages used in the launching phase as a system separate from the spacecraft. The
launch propulsion stages are called the "launch vehicle". The combination of a launch vehicle and its spacecraft is called a space vehicle.

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The launching pad, final assembly and preflight checkout facilities are called the launch complex. The other ground facilities are called the
GOSS (ground operation support systems). Thus, a space vehicle system is made up of:

The spacecraft
Its launch vehicle
The launch facility
The GOSS.

Trajectories in space
When travelling among the planets, it's a good idea to minimize the propellant mass needed by the spacecraft and its launch vehicle. That
way, such a flight is possible with current launch capabilities, and costs will not be prohibitive. The amount of propellant needed depends
largely on what route has been chosen. Trajectories that by their nature need a minimum of propellant are therefore of great interest.

It has been shown that the planets retain most of the solar system's angular momentum. This momentum can be tapped to accelerate
spacecraft on so-called "gravity-assist" trajectories. Spacecrafts such as Voyager, Galileo, and Cassini used a planet's gravity during a flyby
to slingshot it farther into space. This work was done by using gravity to tap into the planet's tremendous angular momentum.

In a gravity-
assist
trajectory,
angular
momentum
is
transferred
from the
orbiting
planet to a
spacecraft
approaching
from behind
the planet
in its
progress
about the
sun.

The "gravity assist" flyby technique can add or subtract momentum to increase or decrease the energy of a spacecraft's orbit. It has been
used in solar orbit to increase a spacecraft's velocity and propel it outward in the solar system, much farther away from the Sun than its
launch vehicle would have been capable of doing. The Galileo spacecraft decreased its energy, relative to Jupiter, with a gravity assist flyby
in front of the Jovian moon Io. In this way, it was possible to decrease the mass of rocket propellant needed for Jupiter orbit insertion.
Comets and other bodies in solar orbit naturally experience changes in their orbits once in a while, as they happen to pass close by a planet
or a moon.

Hohmann transfer orbit


In orbital mechanics, the Hohmann transfer orbit is an elliptical orbit used to transfer between two circular orbits of different radii in the
same plane. The orbital maneuver to perform the Hohmann transfer uses two engine impulses, one to move a spacecraft ontothe transfer
orbit and a second to move off it. This maneuver was named after Walter Hohmann, the German scientist who published a description of it
in his 1925 book. Hohmann transfer involves first entering an eccentric orbit, then circularizing once reaching the desired orbital altitude.
Thus, there are two burns to be made, ideally using engines with high thrust-to-weight ratios. The high thrust-to-weight ratio requirement
comes from the fact that the Hohmann transfer orbit is theoretically based on two instantaneous velocity changes. Extra fuel is required to
compensate for the fact that in reality the bursts take time; this is minimized by using high thrust engines to minimize the duration of the
bursts.

The first step in intercepting another orbiting body is to align your orbital plane with the target's orbital plane. Next is to find the pivot point
on your orbit that, when turned clockwise or counterclockwise (from the perspective of camera > ship > orbited object), will cause it to line
up with the other orbit.

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The Hohmann transfer takes


place along (half of) an
elliptical orbit with one half of
the ellipse touching the lower
orbit and the other half
touching the higher orbit. Two
different thruster impulses are
used: one to move it onto the
elliptical orbit, and then a
second one to move it onto the
higher orbit. Each time the
thruster is fired this increases
the kinetic energy of the
satellite, which is then
transferred to the gravitational
potential energy of its new
orbit. Because orbits are
reversible, moving from a
higher orbit to a lower orbit
still involves two impulses, but
they are in a direction opposite
to the motion of the satellite,
causing it to decrease in speed
and fall into the lower orbit.

Indian Space Missions

SPACECRAFT SYSTEMS
A brief description of each system of the spacecraft and the spacecraft supporting elements will be given at this time to acquaint the reader
with the general makeup of manned spacecraft and to indicate the role each plays in the overall design.

1. Configuration.

The configuration of spacecraft is influenced by the environment of space and by the requirements to traverse the earth's atmosphere
during launch and reentry. All the principal design considerations strongly favor the use of a compact, relatively simple configuration.

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In case of voyager, the great distance from the sun


dictated two prominent features of the configuration:

(1)Three RTG (Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generators)


units, electrically parallel-connected, are the central
power sources for the mission module. The heat source
radioisotopic fuel is Plutonium-238 in the form of the
oxide Pu02. In the isotopic decay process, alpha particles
are released which bombard the inner surface of the
container. The energy released is converted to heat and is
the source of heat to the thermoelectric converter.

(2) A large antenna is required to support the data rates


required.

Compact configurations during launch minimize the fiight control and loads problems of the launch vehicle. The use of a body-of-
revolution or symmetrical configuration is also helpful from this standpoint. A compact configuration for reentry minimizes the area of
heat-resistant structure which will save weight. From the space environment standpoint a configuration which possesses the greatest
volume to area ratio is advantageous. Such shapes minimize the radiation and micrometeoroid hazard and reduce leakage of the
spacecraft's atmosphere. These shapes, if rounded, usually require the least structural weight, particularly minimizing the structure
required for internal pressurization. Thus a spacecraft should in many ways approach the shape of a ball.

2. Crew accommodations.

A spacecraft must provide its crew with a livable environment and atmosphere. Ideally the atmosphere should approximate that of the
earth it sea level; however, it is common practice for short missions(less than several weeks) to use a pure oxygen atmosphere at
reduced pressure. The gas in the cabin atmosphere must not be wasted; therefore it is continually cleansed and reconstituted. Water
vapor and carbon dioxide are removed and the oxygen is replenished. If the mission duration is sufficiently long, weight can be saved
by extracting oxygen from the water vapor and C02. The crew space in a spacecraft is similar in layout to that of a high-performance
aircraft, and the requirements for well-integrated easilyunderstood displays are quite similar. The crew may wear space suits during the
mission. However, the longer missions make the wearing of space suits questionable, since their use is both bothersome and fatiguing
to the crew.

Suits of the "quick-don" variety may be carried as emergency garments in these cases. In an emergency the spacecraft may land in
some remote land or sea location. Therefore, survival gear similar to that developed for lost aircraft is carried.

3. Power supply.

The spacecraft may use the sun as a source of energy to power its various equipment or it may carry energy sources with it. These
would include chemical as well as nuclear fuel. There are a number of methods that are being developed for spacecraft to obtain
electrical power from these energy sources. However, for use on manned spacecraft only a few appear to be practical. These are
chemical batteries, solar cells, fuel cells, chemically powered heat engines, nuclear-powered heat engines, and thermoelectric and
thermionic converters. Each of these might be favored for particular power loads and mission durations. Both d.c. and a.c. power must
be generated.

Spacecraft and satellites have self contained electrical power systems derived from batteries, photovoltaic arrays, fuel cells or radio-
isotope generators. This power may be unconditioned, or may be conditioned to a regulated bus level, from which several to several
hundred converters must efficiently convert the power for end users.

The principal requirement for space power supply applications is that they should have an extremely high MTBF (Mean time between
failures). Two ways in which this can be achieved is:

1. Use of "heritage" or well established designs. the disadvantage of this approach is that many of the components are
commercially obsolete (leading to lower reliability), in addition to being heavier and larger.
2. Separate qualification of piece parts. This may be performed on discrete parts as well as hybrid and chip elements. The piece
parts are qualified to environmental levels much higher than they will experience within the completed assembly, giving a factor
of safety to the designer.

Space applications tend to have environments that are unique to each application. Thus as part of an overall quality system, all
manufacturing and design processes should be documented and evaluated for this environment. The environment testing may include
testing for Radiation effects, Temperature cycles,Shock, vibration and impact. Since space power supplies need to operate in a vacuum
environment, all dissipative elements need predictable paths to the thermal sink.

4. Guidance, Navigation and Attitude control.

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The guidance, navigation and control equipment aboard the spacecraft is tailored for the particular mission to be flown. For attitude
control, a spacecraft applies torque (a twisting force) by firing small rockets or by spinning internal wheels. To rotate a spacecraft, a
pair of thruster rockets on opposite sides of the vehicle are fired in opposite directions. To stop the rotation, a second pair is fired to
produce an opposing force.

Some satellites use a system of reaction wheels- (based on gyroscope principle) to change their attitude in space. The rapidly spinning
wheels carry a lot of rotational momentum that the spacecraft can tap to change its own orientation. To do this in all three dimensions
of space, the spacecraft must use three rotating wheels oriented at right angles to one another.

Guidance means the actual steering of the vehicle as it travels through space.

Guidance commands may originate from a crew onboard, from an onboard computer, or from external sources via radio
commands.
The guidance process involves measurement of vehicle position and velocity, and the computation of control actions necessary
to properly adjust position and velocity. Subsequently suitable adjustment commands are delivered to the vehicle's control
system. Guidance operations may occur in the initial, midcourse, or terminal phases of flight.

Navigation is the measurement of the location of the vehicle in space and plotting the course of the vehicle.

Control refers to the spatial alignment and stabilization of the vehicle while the guidance and navigation functions are being
performed, and includes onboard processing and routing of commands to the devices (typically thrusters, reaction wheels,
control moment gyroscopes, or aerodynamic surfaces), termed effectors, that produce reactive forces on the vehicle.

A reaction wheel consists of a flywheel with most of its mass on the rim, a small but
powerful dc motor, controllers for varying the speed of the flywheel, and sensors that
sense the speed of the flywheel. The reaction wheel is mounted on a satellite. When a
relatively small change is made in the orbital speed of the reaction wheel, this will
cause a opposite and equal reaction from the satellite. This will cause the satellite to
turn.

A momentum wheel is really just a special case of a reaction wheel. As described


above, a large spinning mass will resist small external torques due to its gyric
stiffness. By spinning a reaction wheel up to a relatively high rate and leaving the
wheel at that speed provides gyric stiffness about that axis that can help an ACS
engineer keep the satellite pointing in a given direction. Early satellites were "spin-
stabilized", meaning that the entire satellite rotated about a certain axis to provide the
same gyric stiffness. While this worked well for communications satellites that
pointed an omnidirectional antenna to the earth, but would not work very well for an
imaging satellite. An internal momentum wheel providing high gyric stiffness is an
excellent solution for such an application. Most momentum wheels are designed to
operate as a Momentum or Reaction Wheel.

Magnetorquers are used to stabilize and control the orientation of the satellite in
orbit. Magnetorquers are electromagnets and are composed of a core wrapped by
wires. They generate a magnetic field when an electric current is applied. The
magnetic field developed by the magnetorquers interacts with the earth's magnetic
field to produce torque that can be used to rotate the satellite. To generate maximum
torque, forces should be perpendicular to each other. In order for us to maximize the
control of the satellite there will be 3 magnetorquers one in each of the axis (x, y, z).

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Control Moment Gyroscope (CMG) is comprised of one or more gyroscopes that are
forcibly rotated using an electric motor. The resulting gyroscope torque rotates the
spacecraft. Up to 3 axes can be controlled this way. Extra gyroscopes can be used for
redundancy. The benefits are clear; Provided the spacecraft has electrical power, by
solar power for example, then the aircraft can rotate. With a CMG this can be gone
on a regular basis or simply used consistently to keep the spacecraft pointing in the
same directional.

Control moment gyroscopes have been used with great effect on the international
space station, Hubble space telescope and many satellites.

In Mercury the requirements were merely that the spacecraft be crudely aligned to some preplanned attitude and the retro-rockets
fired at approximately the proper location along the orbital track. On the other hand, in the case of the Apollo an extremely precise
system is needed in order to successfully complete the mission. Here the crew must measure their position relative to the earth and
moon using a space sextant; a computer must digest a number of such measurements and calculate accurate primary and corrective
maneuvers in order that each leg of the journey can be traversed on a minimum budget of propellant. The spacecraft is required to
make a number of primary maneuvers such as launch from the surface of the moon into a rendezvous orbit.

During each such maneuver an inertial measuring unit in conjunction with the computer guides the spacecraft through the maneuver in
order to precisely change the velocity vector of the spacecraft to the newly-desired one.

While manned spacecraft are equipped to carry out all navigation maneuvers with sufficient precision for the mission in an unassisted
manner, the tracking stations on the earth together with high-speed digital computers on the ground are able to provide a great deal of
assistance in checking on the onboard equipment and in adding higher precision to the navigational computations.

5. Propulsion.

The spacecraft may carry one or more propulsion systems depending upon the mission. All maneuvers in the regime of true space
flight are propulsive maneuvers. Because the spacecraft is usually travelling at high velocities the spacecraft propulsion system must
either be limited to effecting minor changes in the flight path or it must be designed to be able to produce large velocity changes. In
this case, a very large portion of the initial spacecraft weight must be invested in propellants. In any case, maneuvers in space are vital
to the successful completion of the mission and the safe return of the crew. The Mercury propulsion system consisted of three small
solid rockets used for the de-orbit maneuver. Gemini is equipped with sufficient propulsive capability to make a rendezvous maneuver
as well as de-orbit. The Apollo is equipped with three major propulsion systems in order to carry out its mission oflanding part of its
crew on the moon and returning them and the other crew member to earth.

The propulsion systems for manned spacecraft are characterized by a strong emphasis on reliability. The choice of solid rockets for
de-orbit of Mercury and Gemini, and of pressure-fed, hypergolic( igniting spontaneously upon contact with a complementary
substance) systems for Gemini and Apollo where more complicated maneuvers preclude the use of solid rockets, are reflections of a
conservative approach to achieve high reliability. The detail design of these liquid propulsion systems departs from the normal case in
the emphasis placed on reliability by simplification and by the use of redundant elements. Spacecraft propulsion systems are also
designed to have larger reserve propellant margins than those used in launch-vehicle propulsion stages. Such margins improve the
mission reliability by allowing for unpredictable out-of-tolerance operation of the propulsion system and unpredictable errors in the
navigation. The margins also allow for emergency operation in a degraded mode, such as manual control, where the resulting lack of
precision would be wasteful of fuel.

6. Secondary propulsion.

It is common practice to arrange the jets in groups, each group being connected to common propellant tanks. It is desirable to arrange
the groups of jets to achieve redundancy in function as a method of improving reliability. The size of the jets is determined by the
briskness that is needed or desired in performing the maneuvers. On the other hand, if very precise pointing is required jets capable of
very small impulses are desirable. This means the jets must be capable of either operating at very low thrust levels or for very short
durations. Reaction jets with very small impulses are also desirable as means of economizing on fuel when there is a requirement that a
fixed attitude within given tolerances be held for extended periods. Sometimes it is possible to meet the requirements for briskness and
small impulse only by providing an additional set of vernier jets.

7. Electronic systems.

A spacecraft is equipped with a number of electronic systems. These provide voice and data transmission to and from the earth.
Electronic systems also are used to measure and record data on the functioning of the spacecraft and crew and as tracking aids. Radar

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is carried as an aid where space rendezvous is a requirement. Other systems are employed as location aids for the post-landing phase
of the mission. Communications between the spacecraft and the GOSS are the backbone of the present concept of spacecraft
operations. In the event of a failure in the spacecraft navigation system, good communications with GOSS are vital to the successful
completion of the mission and safe return of the crew.

8. Landing system.

The purpose of the landing system is not complicated. It is to safely and, if possible, gracefully dissipate the energy remaining in the
spacecraft as it terminates its descent to the earth. The desirable characteristics of the landing system are dependent upon the choice
of ground or water as the landing area. For water landings there is no requirement for terminal maneuvers and the water provides an
excellent means of impact attenuation.

In this case, a simple parachute system is adequate. For landings onto land areas, it is desirable to provide some means for
maneuvering to either avoid local obstacles or to land on a prepared strip. Gliding parachutes appear adequate for obstacle avoidance.
If it is desired to land on a strip, then a para glider must be employed or else the spacecraft itself must have good flying qualities in the
terminal glide. If, as in the case of a gliding parachute, a flare...out cannot be made, some other means must be provided to dissipate
the vertical velocity at touchdown.

9. Escape systems.

It does not seem practical to increase the reliability oflaunch vehicles to a point that is consistent with the reasonable risks that should
be undertaken by the crew. For this reason, spacecraft are equipped with a means for escaping from a launch-vehicle failure. To
satisfy the requirements for crew safety, the escape system must be effective from the time oflaunch to the time when a launchvehicle
failure no longer presents a flight safety hazard. Escape can be effected by removal of the spacecraft capsule by a large rocket or by
the use of individual ejection seats for the crew. In either case, the design of the escape system is dependent upon the manners and
characteristics with which the launch vehicle may fail. This can only be determined' after a detailed analysis.

LAUNCH VEHICLES

The launch vehicles used for spacecraft are not significantly different than other launch vehicles. In the case of Mercury and Gemini the
launch vehicles are modifications of boosters for ballistic missiles. The Saturn launch vehicle which was designed with the intent of major
utilization by manned spacecraft is characteristically similar to missile boosters. These all use very light weight structures and carry great
quantities of fuel. Consequently, the structure is prone to act quite flexibly in response to externally-applied loads. Furthermore, the vehicles
are aerodynamically unstable and are controlled in flight by moving the thrust vector to oppose upsetting forces. The combination of
structural dynamics and control-system dynamics presents one of the most difficult problems to the designer and represents one of the chief
reasons for development flight tests. The other main source of failure is the propulsion system itself which includes the propellant
pressurization and feed systems as well as the .rocket motors. Failuredetection systems are employed on launch vehicles when used for
manned missions. These detection systems, which allow the crew to escape prior to destruction of their spacecraft, are designed to anticipate
failures in the launchvehicle systems. The failure-detection system is dependent upon the use of key measurements in the launch vehicles
which will indicate an incipient failure condition to be existing.

LAUNCH FACILITY
The term "launch facility" is used to describe the complex of facilities that are used to checkout, service, and otherwise prepare a space
vehicle for launching. There are hangar areas for final system tests, weight and balance measurements, and other preparatory work. There
are special facilities for conducting hazardous tests such as firing the various propulsive units and reaction jets. There are assembly buildings
that are used to trial mate the various booster stages and the spacecraft which probably will have been shipped in from different
manufacturing sites. Finally, there is the launch area which includes the launch pad, its service tower, and a blockhouse for the launch crew.
The complete launch operations may start many months before the actual launch. A good operation is characterized by thoroughness in the
checkout, by scrutiny of every part of the flight hardware, and by completeness in the planning of every detail of the activity from the time
of arrival to the final act of the countdown.

MISSION CONTROL CENTER


The mission control center is the command headquarters during the spaceflight mission. It is manned by mission operations personnel who
have displayed before them all pertinent information. They are aware of the location and direction of flight of the spacecraft. Computers
predict the future location of the spacecraft and determine the details of various maneuvers that are needed as the flight progresses. The
status of all vital functions of the spacecraft are displayed to specially-trained systems monitors. Medical monitors are kept informed of the
physiological status of the crew. In fact, any information that is pertinent to the mission is gathered and organized in the most useful form
and made available to the operations personnel so that they may assist the astronaut crew in any foreseeable manner. Instructions and
information can be communicated back and forth between the spacecraft and the mission control center.

TRACKING AND COMMUNICATIONS NETWORK


The tracking and communications network consists of a number of satellite stations to the mission control center and are located around the

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world. They are tied to the mission control center by highly-reliable communications links. They are located so that the spacecraft is in line
of sight with one or more of these stations at almost every instant during the mission. The stations are equipped with tracking antennas and
with means for two-way radio communication with the spacecraft. These stations usually act merely as relay stations between the mission
control center and the spacecraft. However, some may be equipped to take over control of certain critical phases of the mission in order to
minimize the reliance on ground links.

RECOVERY FORCES
The spacecraft may be forced to return to the earth in other than the intended landing area. The possible locations of an emergency landing
may include half the earth's surface or more. Practically, only a few discrete areas are designated as contingency recovery areas. Recovery
forces consisting of fast naval ships and military aircraft are then deployed in the intended landing area and the contingency areas. The
recovery forces are under the command of the recovery forces commander who assumes full responsibility for the mission when the
spacecraft lands. If a land landing is intended, then one or more landing facilities will be required. These facilities will include runways or
other surface preparations plus radar and communications equipment. The use of such landing facilities may not exclude the need for
recovery forces at sea for contingency or emergency landings.

From the foregoing description, it should be clear that the ground facilities in support of the mission are quite extensive. In addition;
significant portions of the ground facilities are peculiar to the particular spacecraft or launch vehicle employed. This is another manifestation
of the very tight performance margins that the spacecraft designer is usually working under. The result is that it is more practical to modify
or build new ground facilities than to impose the design compromises which would result if the ground facilities were completely general
purpose in nature.

INTERRELATION OF SYSTEMS

Now that all the elements of a space vehicle system have been described, let us return to the spacecraft to consider the ways in which the
various systems interrelate. In order that an efficient overall design be produced it is necessary that the design engineers understand these
relations as well as the isolated performance parameters and development problems of the individual systems that go into the spacecraft.
While a specific system may be quite appealing when evaluated solely on the tasks it must perform, it may not have any positive value when
the impact it has on other parts of the spacecraft yield a lesser total performance. It is almost always the case that each system burdens one
or more of the other systems. For instance, an inertial platform, because of alignment requirements, imposes specific structural support
requirements, the severity of which will greatly depend on its location. It may also be necessary that the platform be supplied with precisely-
controlled a.c. power and that its temperature be controlled by active cooling. Thus, it is seen that the platform should be chosen not only
from the standpoint of precise and reliable performance but also from the standpoint of where it must be located, how it is to be supported,
and how it is to be powered and cooled. Anyone of these latter considerations may contribute more weight than the platform itself.

MECHANICAL INTERFACE

When two systems interrelate, they are said to have an interface. Common types of interfaces are mechanical, electrical, and electronic.
Mechanical interfaces not only include actual fitting of separate components to be joined or attached but also the possibility of mechanical
interference of moving or free-to-move parts which could cause malfunction or damage. The best way to study mechanical interfaces is with
realistic full-scale mockups.

ELECTRICAL INTERFACE

With complex systems that are electrically powered there always exists the possibility of creating designs in which electrical energy intended
to power or actuate one component may inadvertently be applied to some other component. It is good practice to isolate electrical systems
from one another. However, this is not always practical and electrical system designs should be scrutinized for the inadvertent sneak circuit
and for circuits that will create major malfunctions when subjected to minor damage or degradation. Also there is the interface that exists
between power generation or conversion equipment and the various electrical loads that exist. Obviously, these must be compatible if
trouble is to be avoided. It is also possible that two different components are not compatible loads for the same power bus. Electrical
mockups are a valuable tool in the design and development of electrical systems.

ELECTRONIC INTERFACE

A spacecraft is literally stuffed with electronic equipment of various types. It should therefore be no surprise that serious problems of
electronic interference can exist. Proper design may minimize this through isolation and shielding of the various sensitive components.
However, it is always necessary to spend a great deal of time with the actual hardware assembled in the spacecraft to reduce electronic
interference to an acceptable level. It is good practice to build special breadboard assemblies and mockups early in the development program
so that such problems may be identified at a time when the designer may have the capability to make well-engineered changes rather than
last minute fixes.

MAN-MACHINE RELATION

There also exists an interface between the crew and the spacecraft. This is often referred to as the man-machine relation. The concern here
is that the crew is comfortably fitted into the vehicle in a manner that is most effective in carrying out the mission, controlling the spacecraft,

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and doing all other tasks that might be required. Here again the best way to study this subject is with a mockup early in the development
program.

INTEGRATED DESIGN

A high degree of integration in the basic design of the various systems will invariably look attractive from a weight and performance
standpoint. Such a design approach should be viewed with great caution however. Highly-integrated systems will obviously require extra
engineering and development. The real difficulty with such systems, however, lies in their intimate interfaces with the spacecraft and related
spacecraft systems. The "bugs" in these systems probably will not manifest themselves until they are tested in place with related spacecraft
equipment. This type of testing not only occurs very late in the development program, but is very expensive because of its inherent
complexity.

DESIGN MANAGEMENT
The design of a spacecraft involves a great number of individual design efforts as most of the individual systems must be specifically
designed for the particular application.

The complete design engineering effort is made up of a vast number of tasks that must be tightly coordinated. In order to properly manage
the total effort various controls must be laid on each individual design effort. An effective means of accomplishing this is to allocate budgets
of weight, volume, power, and reliability to the various design groups. In making such allocations great care must be taken in order that the
various apportionments will lead to a well-balanced overall design.

Such apportionments must realistically set the goals that each design group must strive to attain. Each separate group then can concentrate
its effort to achieve the reliability, weight, volume, power requirements, and development costs that have been allowed.

SYSTEM DESIGN ANALYSIS

After the initial phase is the system design-analysis phase as shown in Figure 4-1.

In this phase, the basic spacecraft and mission concepts have been fixed and the studies are used specifically for designing the spacecraft
and ground operational systems. These analyses lead to establishing the basic conditions under which the complete space vehicle and its
systems must operate. Some of the various items so determined are:

a. Maximum loads and heating conditions for material selection and structural design and for design of crew support and restraint
systems.
b. Time histories of exposure to thermal and electromagnetic radiation and to micro-meteoroids for refinement of structural design and
environmental-control systems.
c. Development of requirements for guidance, control, and navigation systems and similar development of requirements for propulsion
systems to provide attitude stabilization and control and velocity changes.
d. Development of abort-sensing equipment and abort procedures, including auxiliary escape rockets, ejection seats, etc.
e. Operational requirements for on-board and groundbased data-acquisition, communications, and tracking equipment.
f. Requirements for electrical power, control-system fuel, crew supplies and other on-board expendables.

Limitations in system capabilities uncovered in the early design efforts are fed back into the mission-analysis effort a in order to develop
trajectory or flight-path modifications. In that ease the requirements on some of the systems or permit the use of more efficient or readily-
available components. This process of iteration and interchange between e mission design and system design continues throughout the life of
the project.

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OPERATIONAL MISSION ANALYSIS

After the spacecraft systems are essentially designed, the next phase of the mission analysis entered into is the operational one. In this case
the system design has been reasonably fixed and the object is then to design a mission within the capabilities of the actual spacecraft systems
developed. In this phase some additional feedback is made into system design although ordinarily these systems changes should prove to be
small. The design of the operational trajectory must be based upon the mission objectives and requirements. A mission trajectory plan is
established which includes the development of nominal and contingency ground rules and the design of nominal and contingency mission
trajectories. The mission trajectories must be designed in compliance with the trajectory ground rules and take into account spacecraft,
launch vehicle, ground systems, and operational constraints. Some of the spacecraft constraints that must be considered are the performance
of propulsion systems, guidance-systems accuracies, and other system limitations, such as load and heating restrictions.

For the launch vehicle, constraints which have to be considered are the performance of the propulsion and guidance systems and other
launch-vehicle system limitations. Typical launch-vehicle system limitations include heating and load restraints, tracking and radar
line-of-sight lookangle restraints, and electrical-power limitations. Some of the ground-complex constraints which must be considered are the
performance of the tracking systems and command systems. The operational constraints which must be considered are indicated in Figure
4-2 and include those associated with launch operations, abort considerations, and human factors. Some launch considerations are the range-
safety limits and the launch-lighting restrictions. Some of the environmental factors that must be considered are the effects of the
atmosphere, geophysical constants, radiation, and winds. Considerable effort is expended in the area of landing and recovery planning for
both normal and aborted missions and, in all cases, human tolerances to loads, motions, temperatures, and radiation must be considered. The
end result of operational mission analysis is an operational mission plan. Approximately 90 percent of all the operational mission-analysis
studies conducted result from the need to consider abort situations. Studies are made to determine how aborts should be initiated for
maximum pilot safety, and to determine methods for controlling landing areas for aborts during any phase of the mission. Studies also have
to be made to determine allowable tolerances in order to obtain safe miss distances between the spacecraft and launch-vehicle components.

SPECIFIC MISSION ANALYSIS


The next phase of analysis that is entered is the specific mission analysis for actual flight missions. In this case, the design of the mission
trajectories is based on the flight mission objectives, the actual flight mission rules, and the actual flight systems hardware (spacecraft,
launch vehicle, and ground support system). Considerable effort is spent in the design of each specific mission. Included in this effort are
detailed trajectory calculations for the mission, landingarea dispersion calculations, calculations concerning aborts for all phases of the
mission, range-safety studies, and special-purpose scientific experiment studies. These studies continue almost up to the minute oflaunch.
For example, the effects of the actual atmosphere and winds on the launch vehicle and spacecraft are determined before a mission in order
to make decisions concerning the mission. Abort landing areas need to be computed using actual winds before each flight in order to enable
the recovery forces to be pre-positioned such that they can most easily make an emergency recovery should an abort occur. At the same
time, calculations must be made of the effects of the actual winds on the loads on the launch vehicle to make a decision to launch the
vehicle. For other types of boosters which are not guided, the attitude of the booster on the launch pad is determined from such preflight
analysis.

REAL- TIME ANALYSIS


The next phase of mission analysis is the real-time mission-analysis phase. The end result of this phase is inflight direction and real-time
control of the mission. The real-time mission phase begins during the countdown and ends when the vehicle is recovered after the mission. In

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this phase, the calculations must be accomplished by a computer in real time while the mission is in progress; however, the logic and
equations used in this computer have been developed at some earlier time. By real-time we mean that the results of the analysis are available
for flight controller use in directing the mission within several seconds (0 to 3 seconds) after they have actually occurred in flight.

Considerable effort is expended in the development of the real-time computer programs. The mission decision logic and mathematicai
formulation must be specified and the trajectory and other display quantities must be determined. One of the most important things to be
considered in real-time control is the development of decision criteria an such as a GO-NO GO type of decision to continue or to alter a
flight plan in real time.

Although every effort is made to anticipate all the possibilities that could affect the flight and include them in the real-time computer
programs, experience has shown that this goal is seldom reached until late in a space flight program; therefore, mission-analysis experts are
used as flight controllers and advisors. In addition, auxiliary computing using off-line computers other than those used in real time is
necessary.

POST-FLIGHT ANALYSIS
The last mission analysis phase is the post-flight analysis. There are two types of post-flight analysis, one in which the data obtained from a
space flight are used for research purposes in extending the knowledge of space flight, and the second in which an analysis is made quickly
in order to improve the probability of success of the next flight mission and the success of the ultimate mission. The results of these analyses
are fed back into the plans for future flights and, in some cases, into space vehicle, launch vehicle, and ground systems design.

AERODYNAMIC DRAG AND STABILITY


When considering the overall time of space missions, the time spent within the atmosphere is very small. This small flight time period
represents a comparatively large portion of the time spent for engineering design and operation of manned spacecraft. Any vehicle moving
through the atmosphere has aerodynamic forces and moments acting on it.
These forces, as applied to vehicle performance, during launch and reentry, will be studied here. Aerodynamic forces also represent a
majority of the design loads of the spacecraft.

BASIC AERODYNAMIC FORCES

Two important aerodynamic considerations for determining vehicle performance are drag and stability. Before discussing how drag and
stability influence manned spacecraft design, a definition of these terms and their origin is in order. Any body passing through a gaseous
medium, such as air, experiences pressure forces acting on it which are functions of the density of the gas and the velocity of the vehicle.
Shown in Figure below is a wedge section at zero angle of attack (alpha = 0) and at an angle of attack with the associated distribution of
pressure acting on the surface.

This distribution is representative of hypersonic velocity with an attached shock. Integration of the pressure distribution along and normal to
the velocity vector will result in the forces parallel to these axes. The resultant of these forces acts at a point defined as the center of
pressure. Again, integration of the pressure distribution about a particular point, the center of gravity, for example, will give the aerodynamic
moment about that point. This allows the resultant forces to be considered acting at that point instead of the center of pressure.

In order to effectively discuss aerodynamic drag and stability a system of reference must be established. Such a reference system is shown in
Figure below and includes both the body system of axes and the stability system of axes.

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The body system of axes distributes the resultant force vector into components along and normal to a body axis reference. The stability
system of axes distributes the same resultant force vector into components parallel to and normal to the velocity vector. In both systems the
moment and the angle of attack are defined in the same way. A cursory discussion of the effect aerodynamic drag and stability play in the
design of various manned vehicle configurations will be undertaken. The discussion will be broken into two parts. First will be drag and the
second will be stability, both static and dynamic. Both parts will include the launch vehicle, abort vehicle, and entry vehicle configuration.
The differences between the measure of performance for an aircraft and booster will be discussed.

DRAG

In order to calculate the drag characteristics of a vehicle the total drag force is broken down into various components which can be
calculated by empirical or theoretical techniques. The predominant forces making up the total drag are

1. the forebody drag


2. the base pressure drag
3. the skin friction drag
4. protuberance or interference drag.

The importance of each of these sources of drag varies depending upon the shape and size of the vehicle, the Mach numbers and the angle of
attack. For example the blunter the vehicle shape the more significant the forebody pressure drag, the large slender body cannot neglect skin
friction drag, the higher the Mach number the less significant the base pressure drag and all are subject to change with variation in angle of
attack.

AERODYNAMIC HEATING

The safe return of a spacecraft to the earth requires the dissipation of the relative kinetic and potential energy of the spacecraft with respect
to the earth. For present manned space flight missions, the minimum-weight technique for dissipating the major portion of this energy is
atmospheric braking. In principle, atmospheric braking dissipates the relative energy of the spacecraft into thermal energy of the surrounding
air. A major problem associated with atmospheric braking occurs when the reentry vehicle absorbs a portion of the energy being dissipated.
This reentry heating can be quite severe as evidenced by the high percentage of meteors which disintegrate in the atmosphere as a result of
aerodynamic heating and forces.

FUNDAMENTAL PARAMETERS AND FLOW REGIMES

To illustrate the qualitative aspects of reentry heating, it is first necessary to consider the character of the atmosphere and the parameters of
importance to the reentry vehicle. The free-stream air density and the mean free path of air particles are shown as functions of the geometric
altitude (Z) in Figures below.

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These data are taken from Reference 6-1. The term "particle" will be used to denote a molecule, atom, ion or electron, while free-stream
(subscript ) refers to conditions, particles, or properties of air which have not been influenced by the spacecraft. The velocity of the vehicle
(V,) determines the volume of air swept out by the spacecraft, per unit cross-sectional area, per unit time. The mass of air encountered by
the vehicle, per unit cross-sectional area, per unit time, is equal to the mass per unit volume times the volume swept out, or V. This mass
flux times the relative momentum per unit mass, V gives the momentum of the air per unit flow area, per unit time, or V2. The average
relative kinetic energy per unit mass of the air is 1/2 V2. Thus, the kinetic energy flux, per unit area, to the spacecraft is 1/2 V3. This
energy flux is the upper limit of the heating rate (q) to the vehicle. The integral of 1/2 V3 over the reentry time is the work required to
bring the vehicle to rest and is of course an upper limit to the total heat pulse (Q). Qualitatively, the two parameters of greatest importance to
reentry heating are the free-stream density and the vehicle velocity, as shown in the following summary:

mass of air toward the vehicle/unit flow area, unit time = V

momentum of air relative to the vehicle / unit flow area, unit time = V2

kinetic energy of air relative to the vehicle / unit flow area, unit time = 1/2 V3

The characteristics of aerodynamic heating can vary considerably with the nature of the flow over the vehicle.

These regimes may be divided into two classes. The highaltitude, low-density, rarefied flow situations may be thought of as regimes where
the spacecraft interacts with each free-stream particle separately. The lower-altitude, higher-density, continuum-flow situations may usually
be considered as regimes where the spacecraft interacts with the air as a continuous gas.

RAREFIED-FLOW REGIMES

The first encounter of the reentry vehicle with the atmosphere is the scattering of dilute particles by the vehicle. In the free-molecular flow
regime the density is so low that collisions between particles can be neglected when compared to collisions with the vehicle. Relative to the
eartll, the vehicle loses momentum and kinetic energy with each collision; however, the vehicle does not absorb any thermal energy if the
collisions are completely elastic. For the case of elastic reflections, the general effect of the vehicle scattering is somewhat analogous to the
scattering of a plane wave. The density at the surface of the vehicle can reach a maximum of twice the free-stream density since the mass
flux incident on the vehicle is matched by the reflected mass flux. The density field of reflected particles is identical to the intensity field of a
reflected plane wave.

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If the air particles are scattered diffusely, then the inelasticity associated with the collision gives a corresponding thermal-energy pulse to the
vehicle. The particles may also be absorbed, or absorbed and then emitted at a lower kinetic energy. The actual collision between an air
particle and a surface is quite complex. The collision depends primarily on the characteristics of the surface and the energy and momentum
of the incident particle. Since all of the high-energy incident particles come into direct contact with the relatively cold surface, the portion of
the incident energy flux (1/2 V3) absorbed by the vehicle is highest under free-molecular flow conditions, Each incident particle can
transmit its energy only to the surface and not to other air particles. However, the energy flux to the vehicle is low in this regime due to the
extremely low density. The short time the spacecraft spends at these conditions reduces the overall importance of this mode of heating.

With an increase in the free-stream density, the incident air particles begin to collide with the reflected or emitted particles. These particle-
particle collisions in the near free. molecular flow regime reduce the average energy of the surface-particl~collisions. Almost all of the
incident energy flux still reaches the surface; however, the buffer zone of particle-particle collisions reduces the portion of the inci. dent
energy flux which is absorbed by the vehicle.

For design purposes, the heat transfer rate to the vehicle in the free- and near free-molecular flow regimes may be considered as equal to the
energy flux to the surface or 1/2 V3cos . The angle between the surface normal and the stream velocity is the ratio of a unit flow area
to a corresponding surface area.

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