Grant Shelton

Reed Tech
Innovation Essay
May 25, 2015
Innovation is the engine that drives our society forwards.
Without innovation, mankind would, quite literally, be stuck in the
Stone Age. Innovation, or the creation of more efficient methods,
better solutions, or more effective applications, is often taken for
granted. One large source of innovation for the twenty and twenty-first
century is traceable to the United States space program, NASA. This
example may sound strange, but if it were not for the massive effort of
engineers and scientists that it took to establish a program that could
deliver robotic probes and humans onto the faces of other celestial
bodies, our world would be a very different place today. With all that it
has accomplished though, NASA has had shortcomings in the efficiency
with which it dares to cross the boundary of the sky. It is for this
reason, that though spaceflight has become established as an
influential innovation already, there are certain aspects that stand to
be innovated further for the betterment of society.
One specific example of this inefficiency of spaceflight within
NASA is apparent in its human spaceflight endeavors. The truth of the
matter is that sending a human to space can cost upwards of ten times
the amount it takes to send a robotic probe to space. The reason that
human spaceflight still takes place then, relies almost completely upon
the practical and innovative spinoff technologies that it has been

shown to provide. Still, without a more efficient method of sending

payloads (especially manned) into space, the U.S.A. especially could be
in danger of losing its innovative and technological edge. The solution
to this, then, is to create a capably safe, economical, and practical
launch vehicle to further the United States presence and innovation in
space.
Before discussing the issues with payload (especially human)
delivery of NASA, it is important to recognize the numerous benefits
that even this inefficient innovation has brought us. The space shuttle
has brought about more cost-effective innovations in aeronautical
engineering. Even the addition of such seemingly-minor ideas as
aircraft winglets increase the fuel economy of passenger planes
everyday, making for cheaper flights overall. The Apollo missions, with
their human spaceflight pioneering, created many new technologies
(especially those medically-oriented), which have saved countless lives
here on earth as well as in space. Some examples are the pacemaker,
Epipen, and 3D endoscopes. Without these types of innovation, our
world would be a very different place, but they do not negate the price
of each spaceflight launch (which was exorbitant).
The exorbitant costs of the Apollo and Shuttle programs
represent steps towards a human spaceflight program that is reliable,
expedient, and low-cost. The Apollo mission launch vehicles were very
reliable, but not reusable or able to be quickly prepared for launch.

The shuttles were (relative to the Saturn-V rocket) low-cost and able to
be launched (again, relatively) quickly, but they were not as reliable.
The shuttle had an interesting design that allowed it to be reused after
gliding back to a runway. The problems that arose were from reentry
effects and wear on the vehicle, causing the shuttle to need constant
repair (which raised costs considerably).
Perhaps another more ambitious yet more effective design would
be that of a space plane. While the materials able to be manufactured
currently are not yet able to withstand the forces of exit and reentry of
earths atmosphere, the design could, I believe, be made feasible in
the future. A space plane would incorporate atmospheric jet engines
capable of high speeds and altitudes (possibly including ram intakes).
Besides this, however, a secondary engine would be needed to fire
once intake air has dropped too low. This engine would perform the
orbital insertion and various maneuvers through the deorbit burn,
shutting off again to allow the atmospheric engines to guide the plane
back to a runway.
The materials for such a project are either not present, or vastly
expensive, but with the proper engineering, this could be made into an
innovative, cost-effective method of continuing the innovations that
flow from human spaceflight programs. I am studying a STEM field
because I want to be a part of this kind of innovation that has the
ability to change our world for the better.