Blue Origins Hybrid Wet and Dry New Glenn Skylab Station
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(A)The proposed New Glenn Skylab would have a second stage wet lab with a dry lab space station making up the balance of allowable dry mass including the payload fairing, Under the payload fairing is only a docking port and a Space Shuttle Canada arm.
The available dry mass is both the wet lab and dry lab injected to just outside the Van Allen belts.
(B)The amount of propellant in the wet lab second stage is reduced or the volume of the second stage propellant tanks are reduced in favor of a larger dry lab. This stays in LEO and a second dedicated wet lab docks with it and sends it into an HEO. Possibly engines reduced to 1.
The second stage is 16.1 meters and 7 meters in diameter the proposed PLF is 29.9 Meters for a total of 47 meters. We propose not to use the PLF as a payload shroud but as a deployed solar array***. (there is no payload) This most likely means we can extend the Second stage dry lab to more than 16.1 meters.***This the concept we call Rappolee flowers rappolee-flowers-payload-fairing-deployed-arbitrarily-large-structures/
The New Glenn can do 45,000 Kg to LEO we propose a wet lab/Drylab Hybrid of differing configurations. The dry mass of the second stage is with the PLF no doubt less than this and there are likely restrictions on the maximum height of the New Glenn, we think therefore that we have leeway to have a number of docking ports and hatches between the propellant tanks of both the dry and wet lab tanks. If the trades favor a dry lab then we need to explore the third idea.
(C) (a)A New Glenn lofts a second stage that is itself a wet lab that docks with the New Glenn skylab in orbit. It docks with the NG skylab and takes us out to HEO and beyond the Van Allen belts. As suggested it remains docked for outfitting as a wet lab. This wet lab is a tanker and as such could also sport a PLF Rappolee flower. (C)(b)Lastly, we have blogged about this many times before and that is what is the dry mass of the New Glenn first stage? without a payload can it do an SSTO mission? BFR and New Glenn first stages cry out for this final reuse after the economic life is over! A first stage wet lab to SSTO only needs a docking mechanism and as much dry mass as we can be given. Would we have an enough SSTO dry mass for a Rappolee flower PLF on a first stage to orbit?
The end product is a Blue Origin New Glenn based space station with a two-second stage based dry and wet lab and a used First stage SSTO wet lab. Possibly remove some engines? Possibly add SRB or CBC to core stage?