Structural and loads analysis of a two-stage reusable manned launch system

The conceptual design of a rocket-powered two-stage fully reusable launch vehicle has been performed as part of NASA's Advanced Manned Launch System study. This paper summarizes the structural design and load analysis of this vehicle. The method used to determine the structural weights consists of generating a finite-element model for each vehicle, selecting a set of critical loading conditions, determining the loads on the model caused by those conditions, determining the model response, and changing the sizes of individual elements to obtain a safe structure. The integrated loads on the vehicle were obtained from a three-degree-of-freedom trajectory analysis. (Author)