Early Engineering Designs Of Space Stations In The United States: A Memoir

S. B. Kramer. (1993), JBIS, 46, pp.163-172

Refcode: 1993.46.163

Abstract:

Inspired by the Soviet Union’s orbiting of Sputnik 1, in April 1958 the author began to study the possibilities of manned flight into space by the end of the coming decade. Efforts were pointed towards the design of several manned space stations to be placed in low Earth orbit. This paper describes concepts that evolved from an initial space station design prepared in 1958 to more mature approaches appearing in 1960 and in 1962. Variation in design concepts, efforts to resolve problems affecting on-board crews, and the need to assemble stations from many separate modules are among the subjects considered.