fut-spasta (SLF)_v_c_o_AKP (ca. 1962/63, unnumbered NASA-MSFC photo)

“Orbit and Launch Facility Concept

This is a concept drawing of an orbit and launch facility. It was to use a nuclear SNAP-II nuclear power supply at the end of the long telescoping boom. Nuclear reactors were considered dangerous, which is why in this concept drawing it was located so far away from the habitat part of the station. Creators envisioned the structure being built in orbit to allow assembly of the station in orbit which could be then larger than anything that could be launched from Earth. The two main modules were to be 33 feet in diameter and 40 feet in length. When combined the modules would create a four-deck facility, 2 decks to be used for laboratory space and 2 decks for operations and living quarters. The facility also allowed for servicing and launch of a space vehicle. Though the station was designed to operate in micro- gravity, it would also have an artificial gravity capability.”

The above & image is at/from the below linked “NASA on The Commons” Flickr image…

…and it’s WRONG.

It’s the “Scientific Laboratory Facility” component of an overall “Orbital Facility”, NOT the “Orbital Launch Facility” (OLF) component, or as the NAsSA dumbasses refer to it; “Orbit and Launch Facility.”

Yet again, inexcusable NasSA buffoonery by those responsible for providing image descriptions/captions knows no limits. My guess regarding the botched nomenclature: “orbital”, being a rather complex multisyllabic word and not in their rudimentary vocabulary, was interpreted to be “orbit and…”, especially if pronounced quickly or through stupidity-induced slurring.
So, not surprisingly, here we are, with another erroneous NasSA identification, further muddled by an inaccurate mash-up of otherwise useful info, that’s been blindly & mindlessly propagated for ~50 years…and counting.

Take another bow NAsSA ass clowns (retroactively & currently), as you continue the abysmal tradition of mangling your own rich visual record. Yet…perplexingly…y’all are unfoundedly arrogant tools. Why??? You’re the equivalent of the Keystone Cops!!! As such, you merit NO RESPECT, hence my relentless sophomoric beratement. BTW, for any NAsSA-holes that bumbled your way here, beratement means “putting you down.”

——————————————————————

Thanks to Scott Lowther, at his “Aerospace Projects Review” website, we have the following, to include the image & several enlightening diagrams:

“Designed in April of 1962, this NASA-Marshall Future Projects Branch design for a space station was to serve as both a scientific research facility and as an orbital launch facility (OLF). The research station concept is straightforward enough, but the OLF is more interesting.

At the time, it was just accepted that by the end of the decade Apollo would have proven successful… and was to have been merely the first step in the conquest of space. Lunar bases and missions to Mars would have followed soon on the heels of the Apollo program. To support these expected missions, the OLF would have served as a construction facility in space. Unlike many later orbital construction facilities, this OLF would have a telescoping hangar, providing a long cylindrical shield to protect the spacecraft and those working on it from excessive sunlight and micrometeoroids. Additionally, it would provide a controlled lighting environment.

The facility would be launched in two components, each on a Saturn C-5 and both initially unmanned. The scientific research base would have a 30-kilowatt nuclear powerplant and would be made from a Saturn S-IC liquid oxygen tank. The OLF would similarly use an S-IC LOX tank as a basis and would dock to the scientific base once on orbit.

A 10-man crew would be needed for orbital launch operations, and a further 15 for the scientific base.

Mr. Lowther astutely captioned the image as “Scientific lab with reactor extended.”

All at:

www.aerospaceprojectsreview.com/blog/?p=466

So, the “Orbital Launch Facility” would dock with the depicted “Scientific Laboratory Facility”…on the right end. In addition to the telescoping hangar, the OLF would have a similarly pressurized/shirtsleeve-environment section, composed of two decks of checkout equipment and a third deck with vehicle repair & maintenance equipment. The telescoping hangar segment would extend out from this core/base section. Even a “Mobile Boarding Capsule” was envisioned as operating within the hangar. In fact, the bottom diagram at the following link depicts it docked to the lunar?/interplanetary? (Mars?) Saturn C-5-derived vehicle berthed within the hangar:

www.aerospaceprojectsreview.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2...
Credit: Scott Lowther/”Aerospace Projects Review” website

Last but NOT least, a WIN. I’ve been able to identify the artist of this masterpiece as Euel Dean Cagle, who understandably, went by “Dean”. Mr. Cagle was a NASA-MFSC artist, born December 1925 and died January 2002, with unfortunately no additional information…as of yet. Also, per a blurb in the May 1979 issue of “NASA Activities”, he’s identified as being responsible for the final design and artwork for the original/official Space Telescope Program "badge"… i.e., the Hubble Space Telescope.

Taken on: August 28, 2023

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E. D. Cagle

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