PDF Review: “Neptun,” the German Heavy Lift Launch Vehicle

 history, Nuclear Pulse Propulsion, nukes, Patreon, projects, rockets, spacecraft  No Responses »
Dec 042018
 

In the late 1960’s H.H. Koelle of the Technische University Institut Fuer Raumfahrttechnik in Berlin devoted considerable effort to studying a reusable heavy lift launch vehicle. A good, well-illustrated report was put out in 1968 covering the design:

Entwurfskriterien fur groBe wiederverwendbare Tragersysteme (Design Criteria for Large Reusable Space Transportation Systems)

Note that the Neptun was *gigantic.* It was a two-stage ballistically recovered design, unusual in that rather than being circular in cross-section it was hexagonal. The individual propellant tanks were each the size of or bigger than the S-IC first stage of the Saturn V.

 

 

 

A number of payloads were proposed. One was a sub-orbital intercontinental passenger transport, The passenger “capsule” would land separate from the Neptun itself.

One of the more interesting payloads contemplated was a large Orion nuclear pulse vehicle, transported in two pieces (propulsion module in one launch and payload/pulse units in the other). Presumably this would be a NASA Orion hitching a ride on a West German booster; I suspect politics would have negated the likelihood of the West Germans developing a mass production line for nuclear explosives.

 

This fusion-powered interplanetary spacecraft is also a NASA design, dating from the early 1960’s.

Support the APR Patreon to help bring more of this sort of thing to light!

 

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 Posted by at 6:29 pm

Coming up: Ultima Thule

 awesomeness, news, nukes, science, spacecraft  No Responses »
Dec 032018
 

On January 1, the New Horizons probe will pass by the small asteroid 2014 MU69 “Ultima Thule” at a distance of something like 2,200 miles. Given the extremely limited propulsion capabilities of the little probe – just some reaction control thrusters – I remain amazed that in the vastness of space the spacecraft will be able to come that close to an object of interest.

12 years after launch, New Horizons probe zeroes in on mysterious Ultima Thule

 Posted by at 12:12 am

Robert McCall space station painting

 art, history, nukes, rockets, spacecraft  No Responses »
Nov 272018
 

A Dow Corning magazine ad from late 1969 by famed and prolific space artist Robert McCall illustrating a nuclear-powered artificial gravity space station. It’s a nifty painting, the original of which was apparently given away in a contest; all entrants were apparently given a full color print of the artwork.

Another copy of it:

 

 Posted by at 9:37 pm

Oh, goodie. FGM is legal in the US.

 AARRRGH, Crazy, My Fiction, nukes, politics, religion, ಠ_ಠ  No Responses »
Nov 212018
 

Welcome to cultural enrichment, now endorsed by the judiciary!

Charges dropped in first federal genital mutilation case in US

A Detroit judge has dropped nearly all the charges against a Michigan doctor accused of performing female genital mutilation on at least nine underage girls, according to court documents.

In a decision filed Tuesday, Judge Bernard Friedman ruled that the federal female genital mutilation law is unconstitutional and that Congress did not have the right to criminalize the practice, and therefore he dismissed six of eight charges in the United States’ first federal case involving the procedure.

Fan. Bloody. Tastic.

The article doesn’t give the whole decision, but the bits it quotes seem… lame.
 

 Posted by at 4:13 pm

Here’s MIRV

 awesomeness, history, nukes, rockets, spacecraft, weapons, youtube  No Responses »
Nov 132018
 

If you’ve ever wondered what it would look like to be on the receiving end of an ICBM-launched weapon… kinda like this:

Note that you could, from a sufficient distance, visually track the incoming warheads. They don’t look like phaser beams coming in, but they do glow fiercely from aerothermal heating. At least a few of the warheads apparently got *real* close to the intended target. Given that live warheads would have had yields measuring several hundred kilotons, that’s pretty much good enough for most purposes.

 

 

 Posted by at 5:51 pm

US Fighter, Transport, Launcher, Recon & Research Projects

 aircraft, awesomeness, books, drawings, history, new products, nukes, projects, rockets, spacecraft, US Fighter Projects, US Launch Vehicle Projects, US Research & Recon Projects, US Transport Projects  No Responses »
Nov 072018
 

Now available… four new issues in the US Aerospace Projects line.

US Fighter Projects #3

Cover art was provided by Rob Parthoens, www.baroba.be

US Fighter Projects #03 is now available (see HERE for the entire series). Issue #3 includes:

  • Vought Advanced Interceptor AI-0604R: a dart-winged ejector ramjet-powered concept
  • Convair Nuclear Powered Interceptor Configuration I: a single0seat interceptor with a nuclear reactor
  • General Dynamics F-111X-7: A stretched F-111 for bomber escort and interception
  • Bell Ramjet Fighter: A subsonic small fighter from the end of WWII
  • Convair XP-92: A post-war delta-winged ramjet powered supersonic interceptor
  • Rockwell D736-4 Supersonic Penetrator: the wings could sweep back entirely within the fuselage
  • Lockheed CL-362-2: A high-altitude hypersonic rocketplane
  • NASA-Langley TBF-1: an unusual supercruiser

 

 

 

USFP #3 can be downloaded as a PDF file for only $4.25:

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US Launch Vehicle Projects #5

Cover art was provided by Rob Parthoens, www.baroba.be

US Launch Vehicle Projects #5 is now available (see HERE for the entire series). Issue #5 includes:

  • North American Aviation 600K SSTO: an early concept for cheap space launch
  • Boeing “Windjammer” SSTO: A horizontal takeoff design form the early 70s
  • JSC Winged Heavy Lift Launch Vehicle: A giant SPS launcher
  • NASA Nova “Saturn C-8”: an early Apollo booster
  • Lockheed Reusable Ten-Ton Orbital Carrier: A logistics system from the early 60s
  • Chrysler Hot Air Balloon S-IB: An unusual approach to booster recovery
  • MSC Orbiter 042A Titan IIIL6: A shuttle design with a delta-winged orbiter on an enlarged Titan
  • General Dynamics Model 202: a preliminary design for a Brilliant Pebbles launcher

 

 

USLP #5 can be downloaded as a PDF file for only $4.25:

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US Recon & Research Projects #3

Cover art was provided by Rob Parthoens, www.baroba.be

US Recon & Research Projects #3 is now available (see HERE for the entire series). Issue #3 includes:

  • Lockheed A-2: An early design leading to the SR-71
  • Boeing NuERA 747: A nuclear powered 747
  • General Dynamics SX-109 “Pathfinder”: a subscale SSTO demonstrator
  • Northrop N-165: A giant U-2 alternate
  • Convair M-125: A high altitude/speed single seat recon plane with toxic fuel
  • Bell AMST STOL Prototype: A heavily modified C-130
  • Convair Nuclear AEW: unmanned, nuclear powered VTOL fleet defense recon platform
  • Boeing Model 818-300: an early 60s battlefield surveillance platform

 

 

 

USRP #3 can be downloaded as a PDF file for only $4.25:

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US Transport Projects #8

Cover art was provided by Rob Parthoens, www.baroba.be

US Transport Projects #8 is now available (see HERE for the entire series). Issue #8 includes:

  • NACA SST: a 1947 concept
  • Boeing CX-HLS: Boeings design for what became the C-5
  • Bell Operational Medium STOL Transport: vectored thrust for short takeoff
  • Convair Limited War Amphibian: A concept for a single plan to meet both land and sea plane requirements
  • Bell Hypersonic Transport 1980-1990:A two-stage turboramjet/rocket concept
  • Lockheed Hybrid Wing Body 757PF-Sized Freighter: a recent design for an advanced transport
  • Lear Liner Model 40:a small airliner/large executive transport
  • Boeing Model 759-153A Resource Carrier: A big flying wing natural gas “tanker”

 

USTP #8 can be downloaded as a PDF file for only $4.25:

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 Posted by at 9:43 pm

Manned Mars Spacecraft

 art, history, nukes, Patreon, projects, rockets, spacecraft, US Spacecraft Projects  No Responses »
Nov 022018
 

This is what a manned mission to Mars dating from the late Apollo era would have looked like: a cluster of hydrogen tanks with a small number of NERVA nuclear rockets. The spacecraft would have been relatively gigantic as it leaves Earth orbit; large enough that it would have been assembled in space from at least six Saturn V launches. When it returns to Earth it would have been little more than the mission module; this would blast past Earth and continue in solar orbit while the astronauts and a few trifling hundreds of pounds of Martian souvenirs would have plowed into Earths atmosphere in a compact entry capsule. The mission module itself is described fully and heavily illustrated in US Spacecraft Projects #3.

I’ve uploaded the full rez versions of these renderings to the 2018-11 APR Extras folder on Dropbox, available to all APR Patrons at the $4 level and above. If this sort of thing is of interest, please consider signing up for the APR Patreon.

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 Posted by at 2:59 am

APR Patreon October 2018 rewards

 aircraft, art, history, new products, news, Nuclear Pulse Propulsion, nukes, Patreon, projects, rockets, spacecraft  No Responses »
Oct 282018
 

I’ve just sent out the rewards for October, 2018, to APR Patrons. This months rewards include:

CAD diagram: 20-meter Orion spacecraft

Diagram: Genealogy of Piper aircraft

Document: “Story of the Uprated Saturn I” NASA-MSFC brochure circa 1966 describing the Saturn Ib, including future possibilities

Document: “Preliminary Design Study of a Three Stage Satellite Ferry Rocket Vehicle,” 1954 Goodyear paper describing the METEOR launch vehicle. First of a number of METEOR documents I have.

Document: “The Rocket Research Aircraft Program 1946-1962,” Edwards AFB booklet describing the various rocket aircraft tested up to the x-15

 

 

If this sort of thing is of interest, please consider signing up for the APR Patreon.

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 Posted by at 3:59 am

The HML was sold for scrap. Grrrrrr………

 AARRRGH, Crazy, dumbassery, Gah., history, I'm from the government, Meh., nukes, rockets, ಠ_ಠ  No Responses »
Oct 252018
 

A couple years late on the news about this, but… bah. Bah, I say.

285,000 lbs (approx) of Hard Mobile Launcher
(HML) vehicle unit

The “Hard Mobile Launcher” that had been on display at National Museum of the USAF  (Dayton, Ohio) was apparently sold  in 2015 for the bargain basement price of $27,500. The HML was  the mobile launcher for the Small ICBM (Midgetman), and it seems it is now bits of steel, likely shipped to China to be turned into nails (after careful measurements).

Bah.

item to prevent reuse, recognition or reconstruction of the item to the satisfaction of
the government appointed Verifier. Automated size reduction prior to shredding is
allowed. Demilitarization will be accomplished by cutting, chopping, crushing,
tearing and/or shearing in a manner which precludes rehabilitation or restoration to
its original intended purpose.

 

 

 

 

 

 Posted by at 11:21 pm

Maintenance Station in Space

 art, nukes, projects, rockets, spacecraft  No Responses »
Oct 142018
 

A piece of art from 1962 depicting a Westinghouse Electric Corp. concept for a space station meant to provide servicing for nuclear powered spacecraft. it appears to be more of a space craft than a space station, since it is equipped with a substantial nuclear propulsion system of its own. It’s unclear what the set of rings at the “front” of the space station are meant to do.

 Posted by at 8:43 pm
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