Skip to content
79,433 pages · 13,741 images · since 1994 Browse A–Z Today in space history
Encyclopedia Astronautica The full story of spaceflight
Encyclopedia entry

Ehricke 4-man orbital station

Spacecraft · USA

Original archive entry. The text, images and links below are kept as they were written.

American manned space station. Study 1954. In 1954 Ehricke postulated a four-man design that might serve a number of different purposes, depending upon altitude and orbital inclination.

Such a station might be used for a multitude of scientific research, for orbital reconnaissance, for an observation platform, and as a launch site for more distant space ventures. The station would be launched initially by a large multistaged booster and subsequently visited by crews and resupplied by means of smaller ferry rockets.

Country
USA

Chronology

1 event

1954

  • Krafft Ehricke's four-man orbital station. - . Nation: USA. Related Persons: Ehricke. Spacecraft: Ehricke 4-man orbital station.

    In 'Analysis of Orbital Systems,' a paper read at the fifth congress of the International Astronautical Federation in Innsbruck, Austria, Krafft Ehricke described a four-man orbital station. Arguing that a very large space station was neither necessary nor desirable, Ehricke postulated a four-man design that might serve a number of different purposes, depending upon altitude and orbital inclination. He suggested that such a station might be used for a multitude of scientific research, for orbital reconnaissance, for an observation platform, and as a launch site for more distant space ventures. The station would be launched initially by a large multistaged booster and subsequently visited by crews and resupplied by means of smaller ferry rockets.