Tag: technical illustration

Lunar Commuter Shuttle

S-99-04186

S99-04186 (1996) — Routine 24-hour flights to the Moon could employ detachable crew modules atop nuclear thermal transfer vehicles. By transferring the module from one propulsion element to the next, the passengers could complete their trip to the lunar surface without ever leaving the module. This image produced for NASA by Pat Rawlings and Bill Gleason, (SAIC). Technical concepts for NASA’s Exploration Office, Johnson Space Center (JSC).

Image credit: NASA LRC
Image source: Internet Archive

S-83-28321

S-83-28321

S83-28321 (14 March 1983) — In this artist’s concept of future lunar operations, a lunar ferry is about to burn out of lunar orbit for the trip back to facilities in low Earth orbit. The ferry vehicle carries tank modules filled with liquid oxygen, which has been produced from mining operations on the surface of the Moon. One possibility for such operations would be to have manned facilities in low lunar orbit, such as illustrated here. At the upper right side of the photo is a small orbiting manned station. At the lower right side of the photo is a liquid oxygen propellant dump, to which a lunar landing vehicle carrying liquid oxygen is about to dock. The lunar ferry vehicle itself is representative of one type of aerobraking system. The balloon-like torus around the center of the ferry-craft would inflate to several times its illustrated size and, once the vehicle has swooped down close to the Earth’s outer atmosphere on the return journey, would use atmospheric drag to slow the craft and place itself in low Earth orbit. The liquid oxygen would then be used in operations there for fueling various vehicles, including an orbital transfer vehicle for trips to geosynchronous Earth orbit. This concept is part of a study done for the Johnson Space Center by Eagle Engineering of Houston. The artist was Pat Rawlings.

Image credit: Eagle Engineering
Image source: Internet Archive

Martin Apollo

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L. Apollo is pictured here by an artist of The Martin Co., one of three leading Space Age manufacturers awarded study contracts on project by NASA. Apollo was a god of Ancient Greece, son of Clymene and Titan. This is nicely appropriate, since Martin produces the mighty Titan intercontinental ballistic missile.

R. The Apollo lunar spacecraft planned to carry 3 crewmen on round trip between earth and the moon is shown above here enroute among the stars. Protruding fan-shapes are solar arrays to gather energy from sun for use aboard. Apollo was said to have been the triumphant participant in Olympic games. Homer called him the “god of prophecy.”

America’s Mightiest Missile
by Larry Eisinger
Arco Publishing, 1961

Image credit: NASA
Image source(s): Mike Acs, Numbers Station

S-76-24322

17476557

Image credit: Boeing
Image source: National Archives