wrote in message
...
On Dec 8, 4:43 pm, "Jeff Findley" wrote:

Lost, but perhaps not for long. Space-X's Dragon plans to use CBM's and
should provide something like 7 to 10 cubic meters of cargo return
capability.


Notice that I mentioned ATV and Dragon in the same sentence and then
connected them both to the ability to move large cargo via the CBMs.
While Dragon can return cargo, it's not on the same level as STS/
MPLM.

True, but my argument is that it is a desire to return an entire experiment
rack to the earth more so than a hard requiremnet. What scientists on the
ground want is their results back. Sometimes results can be sent back as
digital data via radio wave, which costs zero downmass. Other times results
can be sent back as material/biological/whatever samples which are the true
end result of the experiment.

While Dragon will not fill the desire to return all used experiment racks to
earth, it will do a much better job at the requirement of returning
experimental results to earth.

ATV, HTV, and Progress can be used to remove garbage from ISS, and HTV does
have a CBM on it, so it can be used to dispose of entire experiment racks.
The US side of ISS need not suffer the same problems that Mir had with large
amounts of broken equipment sitting around in modules simply because of
hatch size limitations, Progress limitations, and the like.

Jeff
--
"Many things that were acceptable in 1958 are no longer acceptable today.
My own standards have changed too." -- Freeman Dyson