J
jimfromnsf
Guest
"What would you say are the biggest technical challenges they would have to overcome in order to build a rotating inhabitable space structure from expended shuttle External Tanks? "<br /><br />The orbital smelter that is going to recycle the ET's metal into the components of the "rotating inhabitable space structure"<br /><br />mods required to the ET<br /><br />1. Attitude control system<br />2. propulsion system<br />3 guidance system<br />4. mods to the foam to prevent it from deteiorating onorbit and "polluting" the nearby environment<br />5. Attach points on the ET so that items can be mounted to it. These will cause ascent heating and foam problems<br />6, hatches to the interior<br />7. mods to the internal components to removal<br />8 MMOD protection<br />9. power system<br /><br />All this before any components are added to make a habitable enviroment. There are more issues with this<br />