Asri-unix.1184 net.space utzoo!decvax!cca!sri-unix!A.exp@Berkeley Thu Apr 8 01:12:17 1982 It would be easier to use solids carried up in the bay of the Shuttle to boost the external tanks alone to higher orbit, because the use of additional tanks of liquid fuel inside the Shuttle would require boosting all the dead weight of the Shuttle for each external tank. Enlarging the external tank requires a reconfiguration of the Shuttle exterior and development; so liquid fuel to boost the tank into a higher orbit should not be carried up outside the orbiter in the tank. Since the alternative of putting liquid inside the Shuttle wastes payload capacity, solids carried inside the bay and later attached to the external tank is the best way to get the external tank into higher orbit. Two studies that describe methods of converting and using the external tank are 1. In NASA SP-428 2. An OASIS document on this. It's not much harder than building an apartment. ----------------------------------------------------------------- gopher://quux.org/ conversion by John Goerzen of http://communication.ucsd.edu/A-News/ This Usenet Oldnews Archive article may be copied and distributed freely, provided: 1. There is no money collected for the text(s) of the articles. 2. The following notice remains appended to each copy: The Usenet Oldnews Archive: Compilation Copyright (C) 1981, 1996 Bruce Jones, Henry Spencer, David Wiseman.