In May of 1962, JPL put out a report on a Nova-class space launcher that was designed to use nothing but solid rocket motors. Such things have been designed from time to time… but never as downright butt-ugly as this horrible monstrocity.
No concession to a little thing I like to call “aerodynamics.”
Payload delivered to Earth orbit was to be 500,000 pounds, about twice that of the Saturn V. At the time this report was published the Saturn V and Lunar Orbit Rendezvous were already the chosen routes to the moon, but this design was put forward as a contender for post-Saturn V missions to the moon and beyond.
This design was based on prior JPL design work, and included a modification of the Convair direct-lunar-lander (i.e. the Earth return capsule lands on the lunar surface, nor rendezvous between command and lunar modules). It was compared to another all-solid Nova-class rocket (by the Grand Central Rocket Co.) and an all-liquid design from Rocketdyne.
7 Responses to “Ugliest. Launch. Vehicle. EVER.”
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Wat, this ugliest is launch without aerodynamic cover ?!
Looks like the Russian probes, all beads of tanks around a probe. Only that there are all engines.
Seriously now, was a nose cone outside their budget range?
There needs to be an award for ugly machinery,
Its what Ares V would have looked like if Chelomei worked for ATK 😉
I see your ugliness and raise it: http://www.astronautix.com/lvs/ur700.htm
I always wondered what that odd Convair M-1 Apollo design was going to ride atop of (lower drawing): http://www.astronautix.com/craft/apollom1.htm
Can you imagine the amount of smoke this thing would have generated on the way up?
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