Abstract: To reduce the time required to build spacecraft, and to reduce costs, the spacecraft are members of a set of spacecraft. Each member has the same structural members, such as panels, but different members of the set are elongated by multiples of an increment such as five inches. The structural panels of larger members of the set are elongated in the longitudinal direction, to provide more surface area for mounting payload, and to provide more heat rejection surface. The propellant tank(s), which may be fuel and oxidizer tanks, are spherical in the shortest members of the set, and are increased in length by addition of cylindrical sections, to provide greater volume in larger members to thereby provide longer operating life. Similarly, the solar panels, heat pipes and the like may be elongated.

Abstract: The invention lies in a support transition which is affixed to a spacecraft for supporting the spacecraft on a support ring of a booster or launch vehicle. The transition is in the general form of a ring defining a longitudinal axis parallel to the axis of the spacecraft and the booster. The transition has a circular end adapted to mate with the booster support ring, and a polygonal end adapted to mate with the spacecraft, and makes a smooth transition between ends. The circumference of the transition, at any cross-section transverse to the longitudinal axis, is constant. The transition is advantageously made of a composite material such as fiber-reinforced solidified liquid or carbon-fiber reinforced resin. In a particular embodiment, the polygonal end is a square rectangle, with four straight sides and rounded corners. In a set of spacecraft, the transition remains the same size.

Abstract: An apparatus and method for fastening together spacecraft panels includes the use of fastener pairs, one of which has preformed therein an aperture which is larger in diameter than the body of a tolerance takeup piece which is to pass therethrough. A washer which takes up the clearance is adhesively fastened to one of the fastener halves, and allowed to cure while the panels are in their desired position. Thus, a high-tolerance mating pair can be finalized in position at a late state in fabrication, without undesirable drilling or reaming. In a first particular embodiment, a flat washer, having an inside diameter which closely fits the corresponding bolt, is adhesively fastened over the preformed oversize aperture of a fitting.

Abstract: Sound muffling devices for marine engines for installation on the external portion of the transom of a marine vessel are attached in such a manner that any breakdown within the silencer causes no discharge of exhaust gases or cooling fluids into the interior of the vessel and the gases and cooling fluid continue to be discharged overboard. The silencers are designed to reduce, substantially, the noise level emitted by the engine under operation by the efficient mixture of gases and water through a series of baffles, with low resistance to gas flow that does not diminish engine efficiency. At high speeds the gases and odors are emitted from the vessel at the centerline with distance and direction such as to reduce, substantially, emissions into the air environment. The device receives exhaust gas and cooling water from an exhaust pipe passing through the transom at the side of the boat and directs the gas athwart the boat to the center where it is exhausted.

Abstract: Sound muffling devices for marine engines for installation on the external portion of the transom of a marine vessel are attached in such a manner that any breakdown within the silencer causes no discharge of exhaust gases or cooling fluids into the interior of the vessel and the gases and cooling fluid continue to be discharged overboard. The silencer is designed to reduce, substantially, the noise level emitted by the engine under operation by the efficient mixture of gases and water through a series of baffles, with low resistance to gas flow that does not diminish engine efficiency. The gases and odors are emitted from the vessel at the centerline with distance and direction such as to reduce, substantially, emissions into the air environment. The device receives exhaust gas and cooling water from an exhaust pipe passing through the transom at the side of the boat and directs the gas athwart the boat to the center where it is exhausted.