The Saturn-Shuttle was a preliminary concept of launching the

Space Shuttle orbiter The Space Shuttle orbiter is the spaceplane component of the Space Shuttle, a partially reusable orbital spacecraft system that was part of the discontinued Space Shuttle program. Operated from 1977 to 2011 by NASA, the U.S. space agency, thi ...

using a modified version of the first stage of the

Saturn V Saturn V is a retired American super heavy-lift launch vehicle developed by NASA under the Apollo program for human exploration of the Moon. The rocket was human-rated, with multistage rocket, three stages, and powered with liquid-propellant r ...

rocket. It was studied and considered in 1971–1972.

Description

An interstage would be fitted on top of the

S-IC The S-IC (pronounced S-one-C) was the first stage of the American Saturn V rocket. The S-IC stage was manufactured by the Boeing Company. Like the first stages of most rockets, most of its mass of more than at launch was propellant, in this cas ...

stage to support the external tank in the space occupied by the

S-II The S-II (pronounced "S-two") was the second stage of the Saturn V rocket. It was built by North American Aviation. Using LH2, liquid hydrogen (LH2) and liquid oxygen (LOX) it had five J-2 (rocket engine), J-2 engines in a quincunx pattern. The ...

stage in the Saturn V. It was an alternative to the

SRB SRB or Srb may refer to: Places * Serbia (ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 country code SRB), a country in Central/Southeastern Europe * Srb, a village in Croatia Organizations * State Research Bureau (organisation), former Ugandan intelligence agency * Sin ...

s. The addition of wings (and some form of landing gear) on the S-IC stage would allow the booster to fly back to the

Kennedy Space Center The John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC, originally known as the NASA Launch Operations Center), located on Merritt Island, Florida, is one of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) ten field centers. Since December 196 ...

, where technicians would then refurbish the booster (by replacing only the five F-1 engines and reusing the tanks and other hardware for later flights). The Shuttle would handle space station logistics, while the Saturn V would launch components. This would have allowed the

International Space Station The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest Modular design, modular space station currently in low Earth orbit. It is a multinational collaborative project involving five participating space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos ( ...

, using a

Skylab Skylab was the first United States space station, launched by NASA, occupied for about 24 weeks between May 1973 and February 1974. It was operated by three separate three-astronaut crews: Skylab 2, Skylab 3, and Skylab 4. Major operations ...

Mir ''Mir'' (russian: Мир, ; ) was a space station that operated in low Earth orbit from 1986 to 2001, operated by the Soviet Union and later by Russia. ''Mir'' was the first modular space station and was assembled in orbit from 1986 to&n ...

configuration with both U.S. and Russian docking ports, to have been lifted with just a handful of launches. The Saturn-Shuttle concept also would have eliminated the

Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Booster The Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Booster (SRB) was the first solid-propellant rocket to be used for primary propulsion on a vehicle used for human spaceflight. A pair of these provided 85% of the Space Shuttle's thrust at liftoff and for the first ...

s that ultimately precipitated the Space Shuttle ''Challenger'' accident in 1986.

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External links

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Saturn Shuttle with Flyback Booster
video rendering by Hazegrayart

Description

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References

External links

Further reading