Value chain · CLM-0966
In plain terms
In 1975 the antenna alone was expected to take one to two years to assemble in orbit with about fifty people, and robot arms were judged cheaper than astronauts doing it by hand.
The claim as recorded
Raytheon's 1975 operations study assumed MPTS antenna assembly periods of one to two years and a 50-man space station crew, concluding that remote-controlled manipulator assembly was the most cost-effective approach and EVA assembly competitive only if two-year assembly and 50-man station costs were acceptable.
Evidence behind this: T3-primary-report, assumed periods in an operations study.
Scope and limits
CONTRAST WITH CLM-0963 THREE YEARS LATER: SIX MONTHS FOR A WHOLE SATELLITE AGAINST ONE TO TWO YEARS FOR THE ANTENNA ALONE. These must not be averaged; they are different scopes, dates and methods.
What it assumes
Antenna only, not the whole satellite. Assumed periods, not results.
Where it comes from
PDF p.50, normalised, with the text layer's faults shown: "Remote controlled manipulator assembly offers the most cost effective approach ... EVA _ssembly with remote controlled logistics vehicles could be cost competitive ff assembly times in excess of two years is acceptable and Space Station costs for a 50-man crew can be shown to be reasonable" ("ff" for "if"). PDF p.56: "Flight Plan 1 and 3 assume one and two year assembly periods at the low altitude site, while Flight Plan 2 assumes a one year assembly time at the high altitude site."
Basis: MPTS antenna assembly period; crew
Related records
- Answers question
- QST-015 not published in this release
Cite this
energyaperture.com/c/clm-0966
CLM-0966, Energy Aperture, as of 1975-12.
Connected records
Other published records linked to this one. A list, not a judgement.
- Also from SRC-451
- CLM-0954The 1975 designers worked out how much their kilometre-wide antenna would bend, precisely so they could decide how good the beam-steering...CLM-0959The original 1975 calculation found the satellite's radio noise would be fine for ordinary and troposcatter radio links and a problem only...CLM-0960The 1975 study found the satellite's harmonics - the multiples of its transmit frequency - would trouble radio astronomy at the second and...CLM-0961Everything in the 1975 interference analysis is for one satellite. The study itself says that a hundred of them would raise the noise and...CLM-0965In 1973 an astronaut on Skylab put together two long poles from short sections in just over two hours, about six minutes per join. A 1975...CLM-0968The 1975 antenna study worked out how hot the middle of the transmitter gets depending on how efficient the tubes are and how tightly they...CLM-0969If the tubes are only 70 per cent efficient, the transmitter's own face is not big enough to get rid of the heat they make, even spread...CLM-0972If you take a 1975 estimate of how fast people could build structure in space, checked against one Skylab task, and apply it to the 1978...More on the source page.