Author Topic: The Military Test Space Station (MTSS) 1959-1962  (Read 1854 times)

Offline leovinus

  • Full Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 1225
  • Porto, Portugal
  • Liked: 966
  • Likes Given: 1872
The Military Test Space Station (MTSS) 1959-1962
« on: 08/27/2024 05:04 pm »
A thread to discuss more on the MTSS as well as related space stations, boosters, logistics based on the recent article

https://www.thespacereview.com/article/4840/1

(Disclaimer, I am the author)

Quote
The Military Test Space Station (MTSS)
by Hans Dolfing

Monday, August 12, 2024

The US Air Force started a series of contractor studies in the late 1950s to look ahead and explore anything related to space. Rockets, rocket planes, short- and long-term stays in space, logistics to supply outposts in space, and weapons; the works. These studies were titled the System Requirement (SR) studies to prepare US Air Force long-range plans.

Quote
One such USAF study, SR 17527, Task Nr 7969, titled the Military Test Space Station (MTSS), with a timeframe between 1959 to 1962, is discussed here based on a two, mostly forgotten sets of documents.

Quote
The MTSS deserves more than a footnote in the list of US space station concepts because this study generated quite a diverse but detailed set of zero and artificial-gravity stations for which many basic arguments are still valid. Without history, it is easy to repeat mistakes in the future. To design future space stations, it helps to understand the ingenious and innovative space structures from the 1960s.

Ever since a brief mention about the MTSS in a book a decade ago, these and similar US space station concepts have been a source of fascination to me. As I like to research original reports and documents, I am pleased that another part of that work got published. In a way, consider this "Part 1" of the MTSS story. Various Air and Space Force FOIAs are in progress to retrieve more original documents. In particular see references 16 to 18 for a possible "Part 2" of this story whenever the Air Force would finally release these documents. In any case, the TSR article endnotes/references have many hyperlinks for follow-up.

As there as many space veterans on this forum, I’d love to hear additional stories, more hints about which contractor concept is which or whatever additional info or pointers you can share.

With respect to earlier threads here on NSF, the MTSS came up in the MOL discussion thread as well the very early boosters Late 50s-early 60s USAF Project Phoenix rockets, boosters and related projects

Offline leovinus

  • Full Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 1225
  • Porto, Portugal
  • Liked: 966
  • Likes Given: 1872
Re: The Military Test Space Station (MTSS) 1959-1962
« Reply #1 on: 08/28/2024 06:29 pm »
In order to find more info on the MTTS proposal by GD/A Convair, it might be useful to look at some images in SDASM image collection on Flickr. For example, try in your favorite browser a query like
 site:www.flickr.com MTSS/MARS
or
 https://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/mtss/

You see a bunch of photos of mockups of a white painted station tagged as MTSS/MARS which was one of the GD/A proposals. MARS stands for "Manned Astronomical Research Station". As the GD/A technical reports have not been released we cannot check the mockup vs. engineering drawings but the circumstancal evidence is that this is a MTSS mockup.

One question I have is "Who are these people?" in the following two images. Are they astronauts or engineers? Does anyone know?
https://www.flickr.com/photos/sdasmarchives/23977544374/in/photostream/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/sdasmarchives/24579535886/in/photostream/

Similar question for this one
https://www.flickr.com/photos/sdasmarchives/23978909923/in/photostream/

The people are labelled as Armstrong, Tiernon, and Kudenov in "living quarters". Ok, great to know the names and the date of 04/12/1961 which fits the GD/A MTSS timeframe but the natural question is "Is this the inside of MTSS mockup?". And secondly, to me, none of these guys look like Neil Armstrong.

Offline LittleBird

  • Full Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 1301
  • UK
  • Liked: 388
  • Likes Given: 659
Re: The Military Test Space Station (MTSS) 1959-1962
« Reply #2 on: 08/29/2024 12:48 pm »
A thread to discuss more on the MTSS as well as related space stations, boosters, logistics based on the recent article

https://www.thespacereview.com/article/4840/1

(Disclaimer, I am the author)

Quote
The Military Test Space Station (MTSS)
by Hans Dolfing

Monday, August 12, 2024

The US Air Force started a series of contractor studies in the late 1950s to look ahead and explore anything related to space. Rockets, rocket planes, short- and long-term stays in space, logistics to supply outposts in space, and weapons; the works. These studies were titled the System Requirement (SR) studies to prepare US Air Force long-range plans.

Quote
One such USAF study, SR 17527, Task Nr 7969, titled the Military Test Space Station (MTSS), with a timeframe between 1959 to 1962, is discussed here based on a two, mostly forgotten sets of documents.

Quote
The MTSS deserves more than a footnote in the list of US space station concepts because this study generated quite a diverse but detailed set of zero and artificial-gravity stations for which many basic arguments are still valid. Without history, it is easy to repeat mistakes in the future. To design future space stations, it helps to understand the ingenious and innovative space structures from the 1960s.

Ever since a brief mention about the MTSS in a book a decade ago, these and similar US space station concepts have been a source of fascination to me. As I like to research original reports and documents, I am pleased that another part of that work got published. In a way, consider this "Part 1" of the MTSS story. Various Air and Space Force FOIAs are in progress to retrieve more original documents. In particular see references 16 to 18 for a possible "Part 2" of this story whenever the Air Force would finally release these documents. In any case, the TSR article endnotes/references have many hyperlinks for follow-up.

As there as many space veterans on this forum, I’d love to hear additional stories, more hints about which contractor concept is which or whatever additional info or pointers you can share.

With respect to earlier threads here on NSF, the MTSS came up in the MOL discussion thread as well the very early boosters Late 50s-early 60s USAF Project Phoenix rockets, boosters and related projects

Was also interested to see the links you found to something very similar to Saunders B. Kramer's Lockheed Bucephalus/Tinkertoy station, which we chatted about in your Douglas Spaceball thread.

Very nice article.

Offline leovinus

  • Full Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 1225
  • Porto, Portugal
  • Liked: 966
  • Likes Given: 1872
Re: The Military Test Space Station (MTSS) 1959-1962
« Reply #3 on: 08/31/2024 11:52 am »
TL;DR Found one more reference to an original MTSS report by Martin Co.

When you look at reference 18 of the MTSS article, there are currently two volumes listed.
Quote
[18] Martin Co., Denver, Colo., by R. Hale, Contr. AF 33(600)-42456, Rept. no. M-0361-61-87, ASD TR 61-211, ASD CR 61-14, Dated: Jul 1961.
- SR-17527, “MTSS PHASE II (GAMMA) VEHICLE DESIGN. VOLUME I, (u)”, AD 328 358L, vol. 1, illus., tbl.
- SR-17527, “MTSS TEST MISSIONS. VOLUME II, (u)”, AD 328 359L, vol. 2, 178 pp., illus., tbl.

I spent some time to look for more matches based on the old Air Force project number AF 33(600)-42456 and found a match in the HaitiTrust digital library as well as with the FAA of all places.

The first match was
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=osu.32435028332922&seq=638&q1=%22AF+33(600)-42456%22   (ref 1899)
and the second
https://www.faa.gov/data_research/research/med_humanfacs/oamtechreports/media/AM63-30pt15.pdf

The latter document refers to
Quote
Hale, R. 1961 GENERAL HUMAN FACTORS CONSIDERATIONS - MTSS VOLUME III
[Aeronautical Systems Division, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio)
FINAL REPORT - Contract No.
 AF 33(600)42456, ASD-CR-61-14(111), Vol. 3; ASD-TR-61-211(111), ASTIA AD 273005L

ABSTRACT: The final summary report of the military test space station study is divided into three volumes. Volume I discusses the Phase II (Gamma) vehicle design. The MTSS missions are described in Volume II. General human factors considerations are given in Volume III.

The AF contract matches, the author R. Hale matches, the ASD contractor CR-61-14 matches, as well as ASD-TR-61-211. Even better, the abstract of the new report refers to a Volume 1 which discusses a Phase II (Gamma) vehicle design which matches the reference we already knew. The abstract phrase "MTSS missions are described in Volume II" also matches with what we knew as the known title "SR-17527, “MTSS TEST MISSIONS. VOLUME II, (u)”,", cool.

Therefore, the third reference for the Martin CO. MTSS can be added as
Quote
[18] Martin Co., Denver, Colo., by R. Hale, Contr. AF 33(600)-42456, Rept. no. M-0361-61-87, ASD TR 61-211, ASD CR 61-14, Dated: Jul 1961.
- SR-17527, “MTSS PHASE II (GAMMA) VEHICLE DESIGN. VOLUME I, (u)”, AD 328 358L, vol. 1, illus., tbl.
- SR-17527, “MTSS TEST MISSIONS. VOLUME II, (u)”, AD 328 359L, vol. 2, 178 pp., illus., tbl.
- SR-17527, “GENERAL HUMAN FACTORS CONSIDERATIONS. VOLUME III”, AD 273 005L, vol. 3

I was not successful with finding a match on the ASTIA AD 273 005L though. It could be on dtic.mil or archive.org but my search via "site:dtic.mil AD273005" or  "site:dtic.mil ADA273005" or  "site:dtic.mil AD0273005" failed.

Maybe one of you has better search-fu and knows how and where to find a copy of this new AD 273 005L document?

PS: The document at the FAA site has the title
Quote
BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH STUDIES IN ACCELERATION, IMPACT, WEIGHTLESSNESS, VIBRATION, AND EMERGENCY ESCAPE AND RESTRAINT SYSTEMS: A COMPREHENSIVE BIBLIOGRAPHY
DECEMBER 1963
RICHARD G. SNYDER, Ph.D. , JOHN ICE, M., JUDITH C. DUNCAN, B.F.A., ALVIN S. HYDE, M.D., Ph.D., SIDNEY LEVERETT, JR., Ph.D.

The title and introduction are at part #1
https://www.faa.gov/data_research/research/med_humanfacs/oamtechreports/media/AM63-30pt01.pdf

The most interesting name for followup is probably
Quote
ALVIN S. HYDE, M.D., Ph.D.
Aerospace Medical Research Laboratories
Aerospace Medical Division
Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio
because Wright-Patterson AFB is where the MTSS work was conducted by the USAF Air Research and Development Command (ARDC) who requested the Aeronautical Systems Division (ASD) at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in September 1959 to study the MTSS.
« Last Edit: 08/31/2024 11:54 am by leovinus »

Offline leovinus

  • Full Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 1225
  • Porto, Portugal
  • Liked: 966
  • Likes Given: 1872
Re: The Military Test Space Station (MTSS) 1959-1962
« Reply #4 on: 08/31/2024 12:15 pm »
TL;DR Searching for the Military Test Space Station in aero medical research mentions a "Centralized Space Training Facility Study" related to many more Study Requirement (SR) studies.

With similar search-fu as the post before I got to
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=osu.32435025389875&seq=7&q1=%22MILITARY+TEST+SPACE+STATION%22
and specifically page
https://hdl.handle.net/2027/osu.32435025389875?urlappend=%3Bseq=322%3Bownerid=115606170-338
with reference #22.

The authors of that study, Welch, J. C., and M. T. Snyder, are unknown to me. The title though "The Centralized Space Training Facility Study: Part III. Training for the Military Test Space Station", related to many more Study Requirement (SR) studies, is tantalizing. With more searching via STAR in 1963 I find that ASTIA AD 339 343L should be the report number.

Finally, this one page of references is a treasure trove. I made some annotations in blue (ASTIA report numbers) and red (SR report number) which is attached as a screenshot. We see that a significant number of the elusive SR studies all refer back to the "Centralized Space Training Facility" which I did not know about. In other words, here is a different aero and space medical line of search for Wright Patterson AFB (where presumably this facility was located) which may lead to more original reports from 1959 to 1963 related to the MTSS. That also nicely matches the known interest of the big boss Gen. Bernard Schriever who was promoting space medical research as well.

Where does that leave us? Well, one question would be whether anyone has a lead on the "Centralized Space Training Facility Study" from that time? Another follow-up could be more search for medical research related to Dyna-Soar and MOL via these bibliographies.
 
EDIT: Updated the attachment mtss.et.al.medical.png to v2
« Last Edit: 08/31/2024 12:51 pm by leovinus »

Offline LittleBird

  • Full Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 1301
  • UK
  • Liked: 388
  • Likes Given: 659
Re: The Military Test Space Station (MTSS) 1959-1962
« Reply #5 on: 08/31/2024 05:28 pm »
TL;DR Searching for the Military Test Space Station in aero medical research mentions a "Centralized Space Training Facility Study" related to many more Study Requirement (SR) studies.

With similar search-fu as the post before I got to
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=osu.32435025389875&seq=7&q1=%22MILITARY+TEST+SPACE+STATION%22
and specifically page
https://hdl.handle.net/2027/osu.32435025389875?urlappend=%3Bseq=322%3Bownerid=115606170-338
with reference #22.

The authors of that study, Welch, J. C., and M. T. Snyder, are unknown to me. The title though "The Centralized Space Training Facility Study: Part III. Training for the Military Test Space Station", related to many more Study Requirement (SR) studies, is tantalizing. With more searching via STAR in 1963 I find that ASTIA AD 339 343L should be the report number.

Finally, this one page of references is a treasure trove. I made some annotations in blue (ASTIA report numbers) and red (SR report number) which is attached as a screenshot. We see that a significant number of the elusive SR studies all refer back to the "Centralized Space Training Facility" which I did not know about. In other words, here is a different aero and space medical line of search for Wright Patterson AFB (where presumably this facility was located) which may lead to more original reports from 1959 to 1963 related to the MTSS. That also nicely matches the known interest of the big boss Gen. Bernard Schriever who was promoting space medical research as well.

Where does that leave us? Well, one question would be whether anyone has a lead on the "Centralized Space Training Facility Study" from that time? Another follow-up could be more search for medical research related to Dyna-Soar and MOL via these bibliographies.
 
EDIT: Updated the attachment mtss.et.al.medical.png to v2

A new one to me, but I think this doc may be of interest: https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/tr/pdf/AD0419018.pdf - I don't think it's one you've already seen is it ?

Pure Heinlein in places ;-)
« Last Edit: 08/31/2024 06:38 pm by LittleBird »

Offline leovinus

  • Full Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 1225
  • Porto, Portugal
  • Liked: 966
  • Likes Given: 1872
Re: The Military Test Space Station (MTSS) 1959-1962
« Reply #6 on: 09/01/2024 11:23 am »
TL;DR Searching for the Military Test Space Station in aero medical research mentions a "Centralized Space Training Facility Study" related to many more Study Requirement (SR) studies.

With similar search-fu as the post before I got to
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=osu.32435025389875&seq=7&q1=%22MILITARY+TEST+SPACE+STATION%22
and specifically page
https://hdl.handle.net/2027/osu.32435025389875?urlappend=%3Bseq=322%3Bownerid=115606170-338
with reference #22.

The authors of that study, Welch, J. C., and M. T. Snyder, are unknown to me. The title though "The Centralized Space Training Facility Study: Part III. Training for the Military Test Space Station", related to many more Study Requirement (SR) studies, is tantalizing. With more searching via STAR in 1963 I find that ASTIA AD 339 343L should be the report number.

Finally, this one page of references is a treasure trove. I made some annotations in blue (ASTIA report numbers) and red (SR report number) which is attached as a screenshot. We see that a significant number of the elusive SR studies all refer back to the "Centralized Space Training Facility" which I did not know about. In other words, here is a different aero and space medical line of search for Wright Patterson AFB (where presumably this facility was located) which may lead to more original reports from 1959 to 1963 related to the MTSS. That also nicely matches the known interest of the big boss Gen. Bernard Schriever who was promoting space medical research as well.

Where does that leave us? Well, one question would be whether anyone has a lead on the "Centralized Space Training Facility Study" from that time? Another follow-up could be more search for medical research related to Dyna-Soar and MOL via these bibliographies.
 
EDIT: Updated the attachment mtss.et.al.medical.png to v2

A new one to me, but I think this doc may be of interest: https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/tr/pdf/AD0419018.pdf - I don't think it's one you've already seen is it ?

Pure Heinlein in places ;-)
Nice. I was not familiar with that one. As you suspect, that is not the one I was looking for but related anyway. To find a future proof way of accomplishing "TASKS" in a human-only, human-supported, or automatic way was a hot topic in 1963. Computers and automation were new. I came across a similar publication AMRL-TDR-63-74 titled "A CLASSIFICATION OF LEARNING TASKS IN CONVENTIONAL LANGUAGE", July 1963 from the same outfit "Behavioral science Laboratory" 6570th Aerospace Medical research lab" at Wright-Patterson AFB. Fascinating reading but vague on MTSS details.

Even more interesting, let's relate your document to the list of experiments in the NARA document "Test to be conducted in the Military Test Space Station" which I wrote about in the TSR article and which is reference [2] in that article. On page i it is stated that Section (c), one of the seven sets of MTSS experiments, contains experiments on
Quote
c. Measuring man's ability to perform duties in a satellite. Also included in this section are various biomedical experiments of which must be performed before man can be used for a military mission in space.
This Section is later called the "BIO MED" Section from page 79 to 108. The experiments include on page 85 "Evaluation of Ground Training Techniques for Space Crews." and page 87 "Feasibility of Using Military Test Space Station for Training.", attached. Both seem most related to the "Task handling" comparison on the ground vs. in space on the MTSS. There is a reference to another SR-49756 "Advanced Design Trainer" which results are seen as relevant to these two task. That sounds like the "The Centralized Space Training Facility" which we found out about earlier.

Offline leovinus

  • Full Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 1225
  • Porto, Portugal
  • Liked: 966
  • Likes Given: 1872
Re: The Military Test Space Station (MTSS) 1959-1962
« Reply #7 on: 09/01/2024 11:28 am »
One more sleuthing question please. While I see that some Congress hearings in the period 1958 to 1962 are about "Defense Appropriations" and Air Force budgets, only one of them had a short list of AF contracts discussed. One page attached as example. If there were concise lists of Air Force contracts from that time period, we could simple search for numbers like AF 33(600)-41944 and see whether they are in there. If yes then we might be able to find e.g. the contract number for the General Electric studies which eludes me so far. Granted, such secret contracts might not be on a list for congressional hearings but I wondered whether one of you knows where to find such concise and complete lists of AF contract numbers? Thanks.

Offline LittleBird

  • Full Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 1301
  • UK
  • Liked: 388
  • Likes Given: 659
Re: The Military Test Space Station (MTSS) 1959-1962
« Reply #8 on: 09/01/2024 05:42 pm »
One more sleuthing question please. While I see that some Congress hearings in the period 1958 to 1962 are about "Defense Appropriations" and Air Force budgets, only one of them had a short list of AF contracts discussed. One page attached as example. If there were concise lists of Air Force contracts from that time period, we could simple search for numbers like AF 33(600)-41944 and see whether they are in there. If yes then we might be able to find e.g. the contract number for the General Electric studies which eludes me so far. Granted, such secret contracts might not be on a list for congressional hearings but I wondered whether one of you knows where to find such concise and complete lists of AF contract numbers? Thanks.

No idea in general, but have you already grabbed all the contract #s that accompany the SR  numbers from the DoD technical abstract bulletins, like this one from July '61 ? https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/_/4SPJ4687C_AC?hl=en&gbpv=1
 SR178, for example, is accompanied by its contract number  as far as I can see. I suspect you've already done this though, no other bright ideas I'm afraid.
« Last Edit: 09/01/2024 06:11 pm by LittleBird »

Offline leovinus

  • Full Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 1225
  • Porto, Portugal
  • Liked: 966
  • Likes Given: 1872
Re: The Military Test Space Station (MTSS) 1959-1962
« Reply #9 on: 09/01/2024 06:35 pm »
One more sleuthing question please. While I see that some Congress hearings in the period 1958 to 1962 are about "Defense Appropriations" and Air Force budgets, only one of them had a short list of AF contracts discussed. One page attached as example. If there were concise lists of Air Force contracts from that time period, we could simple search for numbers like AF 33(600)-41944 and see whether they are in there. If yes then we might be able to find e.g. the contract number for the General Electric studies which eludes me so far. Granted, such secret contracts might not be on a list for congressional hearings but I wondered whether one of you knows where to find such concise and complete lists of AF contract numbers? Thanks.

No idea in general, but have you already grabbed all the contract #s that accompany the SR  numbers from the DoD technical abstract bulletins, like this one from July '61 ? https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/_/4SPJ4687C_AC?hl=en&gbpv=1
 SR178, for example, is accompanied by its contract number  as far as I can see. I suspect you've already done this though, no other bright ideas I'm afraid.
Thanks for the reminder. Been a while since a looked at those. I do have a local copy of the Technical Abstract Bulletins (TAB) from 1960 to 1965 plus Scientific and technical aerospace reports (STAR) from 1963 to 1965. After some script-fu and trawling AF contract numbers there is no match that I see. There was one small surprise as a "grep" for "SR 17527", the MTSS, gave me an unknown hit, attached. This is from the TAB 1965, part 1, annual index.
<unknown contractor> "MILITARY TEST SPACE STATION EVALUATION (SR17527) ", ASD TDR 62 96, AD-365 423L   

That particular "AD" report was unknown to me. When compared with reference 16 to 18, it does not line up well with the GD/A, Lockheed or Martin reports.  However, always nice to find a new report reference and the hunt continues.

PS: As you mention SR178, I looked at my NARA materials this morning and there are some papers regarding that study as well. Contractor names, dates, and organization of the final report discussion I believe. I have not looked at it closely and I wondered whether I should bring it up in the MOL thread, or anywhere.

Offline LittleBird

  • Full Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 1301
  • UK
  • Liked: 388
  • Likes Given: 659
Re: The Military Test Space Station (MTSS) 1959-1962
« Reply #10 on: 09/02/2024 07:46 am »
One more sleuthing question please. While I see that some Congress hearings in the period 1958 to 1962 are about "Defense Appropriations" and Air Force budgets, only one of them had a short list of AF contracts discussed. One page attached as example. If there were concise lists of Air Force contracts from that time period, we could simple search for numbers like AF 33(600)-41944 and see whether they are in there. If yes then we might be able to find e.g. the contract number for the General Electric studies which eludes me so far. Granted, such secret contracts might not be on a list for congressional hearings but I wondered whether one of you knows where to find such concise and complete lists of AF contract numbers? Thanks.

No idea in general, but have you already grabbed all the contract #s that accompany the SR  numbers from the DoD technical abstract bulletins, like this one from July '61 ? https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/_/4SPJ4687C_AC?hl=en&gbpv=1
 SR178, for example, is accompanied by its contract number  as far as I can see. I suspect you've already done this though, no other bright ideas I'm afraid.
Thanks for the reminder. Been a while since a looked at those. I do have a local copy of the Technical Abstract Bulletins (TAB) from 1960 to 1965 plus Scientific and technical aerospace reports (STAR) from 1963 to 1965. After some script-fu and trawling AF contract numbers there is no match that I see. There was one small surprise as a "grep" for "SR 17527", the MTSS, gave me an unknown hit, attached. This is from the TAB 1965, part 1, annual index.
<unknown contractor> "MILITARY TEST SPACE STATION EVALUATION (SR17527) ", ASD TDR 62 96, AD-365 423L   

That particular "AD" report was unknown to me. When compared with reference 16 to 18, it does not line up well with the GD/A, Lockheed or Martin reports.  However, always nice to find a new report reference and the hunt continues.

PS: As you mention SR178, I looked at my NARA materials this morning and there are some papers regarding that study as well. Contractor names, dates, and organization of the final report discussion I believe. I have not looked at it closely and I wondered whether I should bring it up in the MOL thread, or anywhere.

We've talked about the SR series of studies in that thread, but based on Aviation Week and the other rather limited info-Blackstar's Space Review pieces that you cite remain a useful summary. If your research turns up any primary documents on any of the SR series of projects I am sure people would be interested.

Offline leovinus

  • Full Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 1225
  • Porto, Portugal
  • Liked: 966
  • Likes Given: 1872
Re: The Military Test Space Station (MTSS) 1959-1962
« Reply #11 on: 09/23/2024 11:53 am »
Here is an update on the hunt for more original MTSS contractor reports and their ASTIA AD numbers. To start with, a quote from my TSR article with the contractor reports we knew about before August this year. At that time, it was from 3 of the 5 MTSS contractors only.
Quote
[16] General Dynamics/Astronautics (GD/A), San Diego, Calif., Contr. AF 33(600)-42457, Rept. no. AE 61-0570, ASD TR 61-208, Dated: 15 Jul 1961
- SR-17527, “MILITARY TEST SPACE STATION. VOLUME I. SUMMARY (U)”, AD 328 351L, vol. 1, 75 pages.
- SR-17527, “MILITARY TEST SPACE STATION. VOLUME II, PART I, PRE-I965 SPACE STATION (u)”, AD 328 352L, vol. 2, part 1, 166 pages.
- SR-17527, “MILITARY TEST SPACE STATION. VOLUME II, PART I, PRE-I965 SPACE STATION (U)”, AD 328 353L, vol. 2, part 2.
- SR-17527, “MILITARY TEST SPACE STATION. VOLUME III. ADVANCED SPACE STATIONS (U)”, AD 328 354L, vol. 3, illus. tbl. refs.

[17] Lockheed Aircraft Corp., Sunnyvale, Calif. by S. B. Kramer, Contr. AF 33(600)-41944, Rept. no. IMSD-895091, ASD TR 61-21, Dated: 1 Jul 1961
- SR-17527, “POST-1965 VEHICLE MILITARY TEST SPACE STATION (U)”, AD 328 338L, vol. 1, illus., tbl., 37 refs.

[18] Martin Co., Denver, Colo., by R. Hale, Contr. AF 33(600)-42456, Rept. no. M-0361-61-87, ASD TR 61-211, ASD CR 61-14, Dated: Jul 1961.
- SR-17527, “MTSS PHASE II (GAMMA) VEHICLE DESIGN. VOLUME I, (u)”, AD 328 358L, vol. 1, illus., tbl.
- SR-17527, “MTSS TEST MISSIONS. VOLUME II, (u)”, AD 328 359L, vol. 2, 178 pp., illus., tbl.

Firstly, I managed to confirm the Air Force contract numbers. We only had three of the AF contract numbers but now also for GE and McDonnell. Note the consecutive number pattern.

AF 33(600)-41943 General Electric Co, Philadelphia, PA,
AF 33(600)-41944 Lockheed Aircraft Corp., Sunnyvale, Calif.
AF 33(600)-41945 McDonnell Aircraft Corp. (MAC), St. Louis,
AF 33(600)-42456 Martin Co., Denver, Colo.,
AF 33(600)-42457 General Dynamics/Astronautics (GD/A), San Diego, Calif.,

Secondly, based on persistent sleuthing of more public documents, that leads to an updated report list like below. The changes and updates are marked as bold. In a nutshell, more on GE and McDonnell, plus a few pointers to human factors reports, plus AF contract numbers.

Quote
[GDA] General Dynamics/Astronautics (GD/A), San Diego, Calif., Contr. AF 33(600)-42457, Rept. no. AE 61-0570, ASD TR 61-208, Dated: 15 Jul 1961
- SR-17527, “MILITARY TEST SPACE STATION. VOLUME I. SUMMARY (U)”, AD 328 351L, vol. 1, 75 pages.
- SR-17527, “MILITARY TEST SPACE STATION. VOLUME II, PART I, PRE-1965 SPACE STATION (u)”, AD 328 352L, vol. 2, part 1, 166 pages.
- SR-17527, “MILITARY TEST SPACE STATION. VOLUME II, PART I, PRE-1965 SPACE STATION (U)”, AD 328 353L, vol. 2, part 2.
- SR-17527, “MILITARY TEST SPACE STATION. VOLUME III. ADVANCED SPACE STATIONS (U)”, AD 328 354L, vol. 3, illus. tbl. refs.

[Lockheed] Lockheed Aircraft Corp., Sunnyvale, Calif. by S. B. Kramer, Contr. AF 33(600)-41944, ASD TR 61-21, Dated: 1 Jul 1961
- SR-17527, “PRE-1965 <unknown title> ”, Rept. no. LMSD-895028, Dated: 1 Feb 1961
- SR-17527, “POST-1965 VEHICLE MILITARY TEST SPACE STATION (U)”, 1 July 1961, AD 328 338L, Rept. no. LMSD-895091, vol. 1, illus., tbl., 37 refs.

[McDonnell] McDonnell Aircraft Corp. (MAC), St. Louis,  AF 33(600)-41945, ASD TR 61-212,
- SR-17527, "Military Test Space Station Study", MAC Report No. 7962, 15 February 1961.   
- SR-17527, "MTSS Final Report", Volume I, MAC Report No. 8277, 15 July 1961.
- SR-17527, "MTSS FINAL REPORT. VOL. II. TECHNICAL DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS.", July 1961, 381 pages,


[Martin] Martin Co., Denver, Colo., by R. Hale, Contr. AF 33(600)-42456, Rept. no. M-0361-61-87, ASD TR 61-211, ASD CR 61-14, Dated: Jul 1961.
- SR-17527, “MTSS PHASE II (GAMMA) VEHICLE DESIGN. VOLUME I, (u)”, AD 328 358L, vol. 1, illus., tbl.
- SR-17527, “MTSS TEST MISSIONS. VOLUME II, (u)”, AD 328 359L, vol. 2, 178 pp., illus., tbl.
- SR-17527, “GENERAL HUMAN FACTORS CONSIDERATIONS. VOLUME III”, AD 273 005L, vol. 3

[GE] General Electric Co, Philadelphia, PA, Missile and Space Div., AF 33(600)-41943
- "MILITARY TEST SPACE STATION FINAL REPORT. VOLUME II TECHNICAL DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION PLAN (BOOK 2)", Vol 2. BK2., AD-362 668L, 65-16 FLD.22A
- "MILITARY TEST SPACE STATION FINAL REPORT. VOLUME III APPENDICES", Vol 3., AD-362 669L, 65-16 FLD.22A


[unknown] "MILITARY TEST SPACE STATION EVALUATION (SR17527) ", ASD TDR 62-96, AD-365 423L   
[unknown] "THE CENTRALIZED SPACE TRAINING FACILITY STUDY. PART III. TRAINING FOR THE MILITARY TEST SPACE STATION", by Welch, J. C. and Snyder, M. T., (AMRL MP3D 3), AMRL P-30-III, March 1963 AD-339 343L DEV 23A
[unknown] MTSS Study Part I - Configuration Selection, NTRS 20150016131 ?, dated 1961


It is likely there are more reports titled "Military Test Space Station" but as we are limited to reading public documents, it is a bit of chore to collect them all for follow-ups. As an anecdote based on a phone conversation, I do know that, e.g., DTIC, can just type "Military Test Space Station" in their search system and find more but sadly that is not possible on the public side.

Now that the picture of MTSS Air Force contracts and report numbers is more complete, where to go from here?

For example,
1) Where is volume 1 of the GE reports? What is the AD number?
2) Was there a "BOOK 1" Volume 2 for GE?
3) Did Martin have other space station variants like ALPHA and BETA?
4) As the Technical Abstract Bulletins (TAB) from the 60s use many different notations, what else can we find if we vary the search queries like AF 33(600)-42456 or AF 33/600/-42456 or AF33 600 42456 ?

Tags:
 

Advertisement NovaTech
Advertisement
Advertisement Margaritaville Beach Resort South Padre Island
Advertisement Brady Kenniston
Advertisement NextSpaceflight
Advertisement Nathan Barker Photography
1