Advanced Launch System: Difference between revisions

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==Background==

The ALS was a joint USAF and NASA study from 1987 to 1990. It was an endeavour of the years following the [[Space Shuttle Challenger disaster|Space Shuttle Challenger disaster.]] Colonel John R. Wormington (retired Brigadier General USAF) was the Program Director of the Joint Department of Defense and NASA Advanced Launch System Program Office. Lieutenant Colonel Michael C. Mushala (retired Major General USAF) was assigned as Wormington's Deputy. The program operated from the [[Los Angeles Air Force Base]]. In October 1989, Mushala was promoted to Colonel. In February 1990, Wormington was reassigned to command the [[45th Space Wing]] at [[Patrick Air Force Base]] in [[Florida]]. Mushala became the program director and remained so until the project was disbanded in July 1990.

In October 1989, Mushala was promoted to Colonel. In February 1990, Wormington was reassigned to command the [[45th Space Wing]] at [[Patrick Air Force Base]] in [[Florida]]. Mushala became the program director until the group disbanded in July 1990. NASA continued the work. Although the project had a projected [[Research_and_development|R&D]] cost of $15 billion, its early cancellation led to a final cost slightly under $3 billion.

The ALS program office wasdiffered unique.from Itothers in that it was the only SPOone within Spacethe Systems[[Air DivisionForce (AFSC)Space andCommand]]. itThe office was allowed to be completely furnished with [[Macintosh|Apple Mac OS personal computers]] instead of the Command's mainlineusual [[Microsoft Windows#Early versions|Microsoft Windows]] systems. This was in part because NASA had already been using Apple computers and the joint program needed to be able to communicate between the SPO and the many NASA sites. The SPOprogram alsooffice helped pioneer the use and development ofpioneered what later became the [[Microsoft Project]].

== Aims ==

The ALS program considered the requirements and launch vehicles for its two primary goals. First, the USAF was taskedcharged towith deploydeploying the space- based elements of the [[Strategic Defense Initiative]] (SDI) program. Secondly, because the SDIALS program was initiallyto find a projectedway to requiretransport many thousands of tons of payloadequipment tofor reachthe SDI into low Earth orbit, ALSat was intended to reduce thea cost ofless space transportation by an order of magnitude. Specifically, from aboutthan $101,000 per kilogram. toThe lessusual thancost was about $110,000 per kilogram, which interested NASAkg.<ref>"ALS Contractors Concentrate on Expendable, Reusable Designs", Aerospace Daily, 20 June 1989 page 463</ref>

By 1989, the [[Presidency of George H. W. Bush|Bush Administration]] had inherited a plan for the development of the Advanced Launch System that called for the Defense Acquisition Board to approve the advanced development of the system in early 1990, leading to a first flight in 1998 and a full operational capability in 2000.<ref>Wolfe, M.G. et al, "The Advanced Launch System." 40th International Astronautical Federation Congress, Malaga Spain, 8–14 October 1989, IAF Paper 89-229.</ref> This effort would lead to the development of a modular family of [[Launch vehicle|launch vehicles]], with a payload capacity to low Earth orbit ranging from 5,000 kilograms to 200,000 kilograms, that would replace existing expendable launch vehicles in the 2000-2005 time frame.<ref>Branscome, D.R., "The United States Space Transportation Survey," Proceedings of the 2nd European Aerospace Conference on Progress in Space Transportation, (European Space Agency, ESA SP-293, August 1989), pages 39-44.</ref>