Minimizing the weight of structural components of the Space Station la
unched onto orbit in a space shuttle can save cost, reduce the number
of space shuttle missions and facilitate on-orbit fabrication. Traditi
onal manual design of such components, although feasible, cannot repre
sent a minimum weight condition. At NASA Lewis Research Center, a desi
gn capability called CometBoards (which is an acronym for comparative
evaluation test bed of optimization and analysis routines for the desi
gn of structures) has been developed especially for the design optimiz
ation of such flight components of the Space Station-a spacer structur
e and a support system-illustrating the capability of CometBoards. The
se components are designed for loads and behavior constraints that ari
se from a variety of flight accelerations and maneuvers. The optimizat
ion process using CometBoards reduced the weights of the components by
one third from those obtained with traditional manual design. This pa
per presents a brief overview of the design code CometBoards; and a de
scription of the Space Station components, their design environments,
behavior limitations and attributes of their optimum designs. Publishe
d by Elsevier Science Ltd