TABLE OF CONTENTS Of all the subsystem areas discussed in this book, configuration design may most closely approximate systems engineering as a whole. The configuration designer must be involved in detail with every other subsystem in the spacecraft. The configuration must accommodate all the disparate requirements and desires of the various subsystems and, where those are in conflict, reach a suitable compromise. For a complex spacecraft, the wide variety of requirements, desires, and constraints and the conflicts that inevitably arise among them provide a substantial challenge. This fact is not new to mechanical and structural designers, but space applications do present a set of challenges extending well beyond the reach of conventional ground-based techniques. [1] A variety of innovative solutions have evolved in various projects. These will be discussed in some detail, not as final answers, but simply as examples of working solutions.
[1]Shigley, J. E., and Mischke, C. R., Mechanical Engineering Design, 5th ed., McGraw-Hill, New York, 1989.
Before discussing solutions, we need to understand the factors that drive the design. It can be stated as an axiom that configuration design is always a compromise. A variety of requirements, which invariably involve some conflict, drive the design of every spacecraft. As with any complex system, there usually exists a variety of solutions, each of which can result in a more or less satisfactory design. As a result, this section will discuss the design drivers and some of the considerations involved in developing solutions.
