Almost the Space Shuttle

Several images of the nearly-final Rockwell Space Shuttle.

A circa late 1972 design:

Many more images after the break…

Artwork of a very similar design. The pod on the nose of the ET was for a de-orbit motor. Apparently early on the ET was expected to make it pretty much all the way to orbit.

The structure on the spine was where the “arm” was originally meant to go. This would allow the payload bay to carry a full-length, max-diameter payload and an arm.

Photos (courtesy Dennis R. Jenkins) showing a few models of the Shuttle orbiter circa 1973, just before the final configuration was settled upon. Notable differences include hiding the forward RCS jets behind doors and extending the fairing for the OMS pods forward onto the cargo bay doors (presumably an aerodynamics consideration). The moldline in the area of the cockpit also looks a bit different.

The boosters and the external tank are much more different, however. This is presumably due to the model being made by Rockwell, while the boosters were still effectively as-yet undesigned – and unwon – by Thiokol. The external tank certainly looks pretty narrow. The C-5 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft model was probably built by or for Lockheed.

A three-view of very nearly the final orbiter design. The only really apparent difference is the Orbital Maneuvering System pods forward extension.

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Portions of this post were originally posted HERE and HERE and HERE.