Re: CEV and habitable space

John Doe wrote:
> The Apollo era was before the politically correct era. And as I
recall,
> didn't really have a toilet per say nor were there mixed sex crews.
Is
> this correct ? And the capsule was the living quarters. The service
> module didn't offer any habitable space. (nor was access to it
possible
> due to heat shield).
>
> If the CEV ends up being a glorified apollo capsule with room for 6,
is
> it a given that they will need to build a separate habitable module
to
> provide for some room to move as well as basics such as toilet, in a
> very similar fashion to the Soyuz does right now, but in a much
bigger
> form ? ...
>
> With a large habitable module, would NASA want it already attached on
> top of the capsule for launch, or would it insist on having it below
and
> require manoeuvers to dock the capsule to the habitable module once
in
> space (similar to LEM). I am thinking about a requirement for capsule
> ejection during launch. If you have a large module on top of the
> capsule, would ejection still be possible ?

Ejection is possible for Soyuz and Shenzhou, which
have orbital modules on top of reentry and propulsion
modules during ascent, because all of the modules are
housed within a shroud that can be pulled away from
the launcher by an escape rocket. But such an escape
system is more complex than the simple tractor-type
system used during Mercury/Apollo.

The NASA Statement of Objectives for CEV says that the
vehicle should provide a minimum of 3.54 cubic meters
"habitable volume" for each of up to 4 crewmembers.
The Apollo Command Module provided 2.06 cubic meters
per crewmember. So CEV will have more built in room
from the outset. The SOO doesn't say how the volume
should be arrayed - so it is possible that a contractor
might propose a Soyuz-type modular design. But Apollo
showed that a top-mounted reentry vehicle was feasible.
Each lunar mission required a transpostion and docking
maneuver to get the LM - and all were successfully
performed. The maneuver also served as a sort of
post-launch test of the LM/CM docking system, which
was not a bad thing.

CEV's projected uses include ISS flights, for which it
would not need extra crew volume, and lunar missions,
for which it would be provided with a lunar surface
access module that would, presumably, provide more
crew space. This "LSAM" module would probably be
launched separately from the CEV to dock with it in
low earth orbit - but this is far from certain.

- Ed Kyle

.

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