Assembly Crew One
This three man crew begins the assembly and integration of
FOLDINGSS research spacecraft. This crew arrives in a Dragon capsule
at the site where the central habitat hub was delivered by the first
heavy booster. A universal docking adapter was attached to the hub's
south angular transfer structure before launch. Therefore, this
first crew can dock to the station. Most likely a small CBMa based
small RCS module is installed on the north side of the hub. If that
method is not used, then a reaction wheel system will be installed
and running on batteries within the hub. One of these two methods is
used to stabilize the hub for docking.
Once the capsule is docked, the Dragon can use its RCS to
position the hub as required. The Dragon provides all life support
for the habitat hub in these initial stages. The first assembly step
will be to stabilize the Hub, remove any module attached to the
north side angular transfer structure and prepare the structure to
be used as an air lock for subsequent EVAs. The next assembly step
will be to receive the next heavy booster delivered parts, another
universal docking adapter and two robotic arms. These are all
mounted and activated on the central habitat hub.
These assembly functions define the crew requirements:
- An assembly commander / manager. This individual requires the
usual leadership and flight capabilities expected of an
astronaut, as well as piloting capabilities to dock to and move
the habitat hub as required. This individual should have strong
engineering skills with emphasis on structural and electrical.
- An engineer and EVA specialist and EVA self propelled
specialist. This individual will be the primary EVA person. He
will have to manually contact the second heavy booster payload
package, separate the universal docking adapter and maneuver it
to its CBM port on the hub. His EVAs will likely require an
independent jet pack, or some remotely controlled thrusting
capability will be installed on the payload package.
- An engineer with specialty in robotic arms. This individual
will be responsible for the attachment of the two robotic arms
to the two sides of the habitat hub.
These are essential skills for the first crew. The Dragon capsule
will be supplying all life support functions. The hub will have
charged batteries, but no power generation capabilities, so it is reliant
on the Dragon capsule for energy in these initial stages. Breathing
air is filtered by equipment on the Dragon as well. The first crew
is joined by another Dragon capsule and three more crew soon after
these initial assembly steps, so the first crew is also responsible
for setting up house, so to speak. The central hub and Dragon
capsules have to provide all living space. This includes, sleeping,
exercise, sanitary functions, communications, entertainment, galley,
and medical.
These crew members are going to have relatively long stays in
these modules. Periodically they will get more space and more
facilities, but a 4 month stay can be assumed in the relatively
cramped and unimproved space of the habitat hub.
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