Now available: two new US Aerospace Projects issues. Cover art was provided by Rob Parthoens, www.baroba.be

US Bomber Projects #20:XB-59 Special

US Bomber Projects #20 is now available (see HERE for the entire series). Issue #20 collects all the previously published articles and diagrams of the XB-59 antecedent designs and updates them. Additionally, more antecedent designs have been included as well as several designs that followed along after the XB-59. The biggest USXP publication yet!

USBP 20 includes twenty nine unique aircraft concepts (the usual issue of USXP has eight designs) from Boeing Models 484 and 701 showing how Boeing evolved the XB-59, their competitor to the Convair B-58 “Hustler.” Beginning with subsonic flying wings, the concept saw concepts both conventional and unconventional before eventually settling on Model 701-299-1, the final XB-59 design. This issue includes a half dozen Model 701 designs that followed along after the cancellation of the XB-59 program.

USBP #20 can be downloaded as a PDF file for only $8:

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US Launch Vehicle Projects #04

US Launch Vehicle Projects #04 is now available (see HERE for the entire series). Issue #04 includes:

Space Carrier Vehicle: A US Army lunar rocket with 8 F-1 engines
Convair Reusable Helios: A stage-and-a-half monster with a gas core nuclear engine
Boeing Model 896-111: A 1980’s two stage transatmospheric vehicle
Project RAND Satellite Rocket 3-Stage: A 1947 satellite launcher
Convair Saturn V-R: An idea on how to make a fully reusable Saturn V first stage
Lockheed STAR Clipper: A 1968 stage-and-a-half lifting body Space Shuttle
Shuttle-C: The Shuttle derived vehicle design that came closest to being built
Titan III Growth/156-inch boosters: A more powerful version of the Titan III for Dyna Soar launch

USLP #04 can be downloaded as a PDF file for only $4:

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Also recommended, these previous Specials:

US Bomber Projects #14: System 464L Special

USBP#14 brings together the competitors to Weapon System 464L, the first major effort in the Dyna Soar program. These designs were previously shown individually in prior issues of USBP; here they are brought together, with some updates, as well as a few extra diagrams and a section of diagrams formatted for 11X17 printing. This issue includes info and diagrams of the Lockheed, Republic, General Dynamics, McDonnell, Boeing, Douglas, Northrop, North American and Martin-Bell entries as well as their various booster systems. Also included are detailed diagrams of the ultimate Dyna Soar design, the 2050E.

USBP#14 can be purchased for downloading for the low, low price of $6.

US Bomber Projects #16: The B-52 Evolution Special

Boeing Model 444 A: A late war turboprop heavy bomber
Boeing Model 461: An early postwar turboprop heavy bomber
Boeing Model 462: A large six-turboprop ancestor of the B-52
Boeing Model 462-5: A six-turboprop B-52 ancestor
Boeing Model 464-17: 1946 four-turboprop strategic bomber, a step toward the B-52
Boeing Model 464-18: a reduced-size version of the 464-17 turboprop strategic bomber
Boeing Model 464-25: a modification of the 464-17 turboprop bomber with slightly swept wings, among other changes
Boeing Model 464-27: a slightly-swept turboprop B-52 progenitor
Boeing Model 464-33-0: A turboprop B-52 predecessor
Boeing Model 464-34-3: A turboprop B-52 predecessor
Boeing Model 464-40: The first all-jet-powered design in the quest for the B-52
Boeing Model 464-40: The first all-jet-powered design in the quest for the B-52
Boeing Model 464-046: A six-engined B-52 predecessor
Boeing Model 464-49: The penultimate major design in the development of the B-52
Fairchild M-121:A highly unconventional canard-biplane
Convair B-60: A swept-wing turboprop-powered derivative of the B-36
Douglas Model 1211-J: An elegant turboprop alternative to the B-52
With additional diagrams of the B-47, XB-52 and B-52B

USBP#16 can be purchased for downloading for the low, low price of $6.

Both US Launch Vehicles Projects #04 and US Bomber Projects #20 (XB-59 Special) are done and in the editing phase. I’m hoping to have them ready in the next few days.

While looking at something else on eBay, a listing for something rather more interesting came up:

item 3 – Minuteman Solid Resin Nuclear warhead MIRV Reentry Vehicle Factory Desk Model

$99.000 bids9d 21h 27m

Now, hmmm, I sez. That’s clearly a maneuverable warhead, designed to muck up the enemies defenses by scooting around them. So I decide to click on the link and see more about it and get hit with:

My paranoid lil’ mind starts to wonder… did someone have something for sale they shouldn’t have had?

As models go it looks pretty uninspiring… low detail, blocky, simple, at thos low image resolution it seems kinda amateurish. As maneuverable MIRV designs it’s not spectacular… sort of a mutant Delta Clipper (which was derived from maneuverable MIRV design work). Still, that’s pretty much exactly the sort of the the DoD gets a little twitchy about from time to time.

If anyone knows anything about it, or sees it pop up again, let me know…

UPDATE:

OK, this is strange. I still get the same “listing removed” message when I click on the link with my computer… but it pulls right up (high rez photos and all) when I view it on my *phone.* This would be a first.

So… who can see it? Who can’t?

Recently on ebay were a set of 8X10 glossies, vintage Convair artwork depicting early spacecraft and launch vehicle concepts. I had my bid in… and was sniped in the last few seconds. Oh well. Anyway, one of the more interesting images was this one of the Convair “Helios” developed by or for Krafft Ehricke… a chemical rocket first stage equipped with wings for glide recovering and a nuclear powered second stage with a “tractor” arrangement to separate the nuclear engine from the payload – essentially a small manned laboratory to land on the moon. The second stage would unreel something like half a miles worth of cabling and drag the payload along behind it, relying on distance rather than physical radiation shielding. The second stage would take the payload all the way to the lunar surface, gently lowering it down at the end of the cables, then land Way Over There Somewhere. A modern design would, I would hope, include electrical cables and would serve as a power generator.

A middling-resolution scan of the same image was posted back in January. One day I shall get a clean high-rez version. If that day is a particularly glorious day, it will come not only with the other images created for the Helios project… but they’ll also be in color.

A great little video showing the C-5/Minuteman drop tests carried out in 1974. Two things in particular stand out: how quickly the project proceeded, and how spectacular some of the failures look. A third thing stands out: that there were spectacular failures and yet they quickly fixed their issues and move on to the next test.

North Korea set off their sixth nuclear explosion a little while ago. They *claim* that is was not only an H-bomb but also miniaturized for installation on an ICBM.

So, you know, yay, I guess.

North Korea confirms sixth nuclear test

No information on the yield of the bomb, though a magnitude 6.3 quake was generated. The previous test, about 10 kilotons, created a 5.3 quake. Which might mean this blast would be on the order of 100 kilotons, safely in the H-bomb range.

U.S. pressure or not, U.N. nuclear watchdog sees no need to check Iran military sites

The IAEA not only has not visited a single site since the agreement, they foresee no need to do so in the future.

America tests ‘the most dangerous nuclear bomb ever produced’: F-15 drops $1trillion super-nuke that has an adjustable yield and is more accurate than ever

The B61-12 is called “dangerous” because it’s yield is *ridiculously* low, variable between 300 *tons* and fifty kilotons. How it’s a “super nuke” I can’t say.

Entertainingly, in an effort to define this bomb as “dangerous,” the author of the piece refers to both International ANSWER (a communist front group) and Russia Today (Putins mouthpiece in the west). these organizatiosn don;t want the US to have this or any other new nukes. Which means it’s probably a good idea to keep developing, testing and fielding new nukes.

Awesome:

Billionaire Paul Allen Finds Lost World War II Cruiser USS Indianapolis in the Philippine Sea

Found 18,000 feet deep.

We've located wreckage of USS Indianapolis in Philippine Sea at 5500m below the sea. '35' on hull 1st confirmation: https://t.co/V29TLj1Ba4 pic.twitter.com/y5S7AU6OEl

— Paul Allen (@PaulGAllen) August 19, 2017

If “USS Indianapolis” doesn’t necessarily ring any bells, this scene from “Jaws” should just about cover it. This is one of the *great* scenes in movie history; it’s done simply, straightforward and it’s freakin’ brilliant. This is due not only to Shaw’s magnificent performance, but due also to the speech having been written by John Milius (and cut down from Milus’ 10 pages to 5 by Shaw himself).

It’s my understanding that the story of the Indianapolis was largely unknown to the public prior to “Jaws,” and that at least a few of the survivors went into the movie unaware of what was coming. That must have been… something.

It’s impractical to the point of being impossible, but it would be great to bring the Indianapolis back up to the surface and restore it to an extent. Perhaps put it next to the USS Arizona memorial. Of course, it’s probably right to leave it where it is as a memorial to the dead.

#RVPetrel’s search for #USSIndianapolis continues—more info and pictures to come: https://t.co/8nNBj1iaO4 pic.twitter.com/bzD86dSX57

— Paul Allen (@PaulGAllen) August 19, 2017