Fresh Idea to Achieve LEO

--- In spacesettlers@y..., tntucker@c... wrote:
> Ed,
>
> I've heard of using tethers to deorbit satellites by interaction
with
> the earth's magnetic field, however, it is not clear how MV could
be
> transferred from LEO tanks to the ISS which is at a significantly
> higher orbit.
>
> Regards,
>
> Tom
>

They would bring the tank much higher if they went for direct orbital
insertion, using as much fuel as possible from the ET before
switching over to the Orbiter's internal tanks.

The tether idea was brought up by Al; I have seen some work on using
a tether between the shuttle and the ET, spinning the two, and then
releasing the tether to boost the shuttle at the expense of the ET.

:) ed

> --- In spacesettlers@y..., Al Globus wrote:
> >
> > Ed Minchau wrote:
> >
> > > eg: US Space Shuttle. ...
> > >
> > > Want to talk wasteful? over 100 of those external tanks have
been
> > > wasted. If NASA went for direct insertion, the tanks could be
> > > salvaged; any one of them would be worth their mass in gold.
And
> > > they are giving it away for FREE, if you can salage it
according