The Martin Marietta Spacemaster was a proposed configuration for what became the
Space Shuttle
The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. Its official program na ...
, which featured an
X-24-derived orbiter, and an unusual "
catamaran style" booster stage. During launch and ascent, the orbiter would be located in a recess in the booster. The booster's 14 engines would be located in clusters of seven, at the bottom of both halves of the booster. Unlike the final design for the Space Shuttle, the Spacemaster would lack an external tank, and the boosters would be joined, by means of connecting struts which would also serve as the mounting for the orbiter.
The concept was evaluated in 1967, but was rejected.
Martin Marietta
The Martin Marietta Corporation was an American company founded in 1961 through the merger of Glenn L. Martin Company and American-Marietta Corporation. In 1995, it merged with Lockheed Corporation to form Lockheed Martin.
History
Martin Ma ...
went on to produce the
Space Shuttle external tank
The Space Shuttle external tank (ET) was the component of the Space Shuttle launch vehicle that contained the liquid hydrogen fuel and liquid oxygen oxidizer. During lift-off and ascent it supplied the fuel and oxidizer under pressure to the ...
(ET) for the final STS Space Shuttle design (by
Lockheed Martin after a merger with
Lockheed).
A model of the Martin Marietta Spacemaster is in the collection of the
Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.
See also
*
List of space launch system designs
Even before the launch of Sputnik 1, there were various types of launch vehicle designs. The launch vehicle designs described below are either canceled or never left the drawing board.
20th century
21st century
See also
*Comparison of or ...
*
Space Shuttle program
The Space Shuttle program was the fourth human spaceflight program carried out by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), which accomplished routine transportation for Earth-to-orbit crew and cargo from 1981 to 2011. I ...
References
External links
Spacemaster scale model in black (in the foreground to the right)
Space Shuttle program
Cancelled space launch vehicles
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