WIKIARCHIVES.SPACE

This artist's concept of a sleek space shuttle craft (foreground) has been released by North American Rockwell Space Division, Downey, Calif. The new space shuttle concept, proposed to carry men and 50,000-pound cargos to the space stations proposed for the late 1970's, was a part of the announcement that North American Rockwell's Space Division is teaming Convair Division of General Dynamics, San Diego, Calif., to compete for next generation space transportation system study contract. The bullet-like shuttle with the delta-shaped wing and high tail (background) is the "orbiter", which is to carry men and cargo to the space station. The shuttle system booster will carry the orbiter to the fringe of space, then drop away for a landing on a conventional runway for re-use.