A Case Study in NASA-DoD - The Black Vault

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Air Force missions. Here, the case study background and objectives are
presented, along with a description of the four unmanned standard spacecraft
used in the case study and the necessary modifications needed for
use by the Air Force for the Space Test Program missions. The Air Force
misdion model is also presented and analyzed with respect to the capabilities
of the four standard spacecraft. Finally, the estimated nonrecurring
and recurring spacecraft costs are presented, as well as the
costs for the various launch options considered in the analysis discussed
in Sec. IV.
STUDY BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES
As mentioned above, all of the missions to be examined in this case
study involve the Air Force Space Test Program and are to be flown on
the space shuttle. To provide a context for the cost-benefit analysis
that follows in Sec. IV, the Air Force Space Test Program is briefly
described in terms of its origin, mission, organizational links, operating
philosophy, kinds and types of payloads (experiments) flown, .and
rationale for the standard spacecraft. Following this, the case study
objectives and guidelines are presented. Finally, the operation of the
space shuttle, as it affects this case study, is described.
Air Force Space Test Program
The Space Test Program, formerly known as the Space Experiments
Support Program, was organized in July 1966 as the central flight-support
project for all DoD experimental payloads.
It is a triservice activity
under the management of the U.S. Air Force. Organizationally, it is associated
with the USAF Space and Missile Systems Organization's Advanced
Space Programs. As currently organized, the Space Test Program provides
the following services: ( 2 7 )
Payload, as used here, could consist of a single experiment or a
number of related experiments. As will be discussed later in this section,
the Space Test Program Office mission model is composed of a number
of different experimental groupings and each of these groupings--
distinguished by being on a single page of Ref. 26--is referred to as
one payload.