NORTH AMERICAN & GENERAL DYNAMICS “B9U/NAR-161-B” PHASE B SHUTTLE [1971]
Notes:
http://sites.google.com/site/spaceodysseytwo/stg1969/2STSNAR1.JPG>
North American and Martin Marietta presented their final Phase B shuttle proposal on 25.June 1971. The fully reusable “B9U / NAR-161-B” configuration would now weigh 2,290t at liftoff and the total estimated cost of the project had doubled, to $10-15 billion. Part of the problem was the shuttle now would have to be a much more versatile and capable vehicle after the space station and the manned lunar/planetary program evaporated in 1970. The new space transportation system was increasingly being promoted as a low-cost “space truck” for unmanned NASA & USAF satellites.