Pax Orionis: Casaba Howitzer

 APR, history, Hmm..., My Fiction, Nuclear Pulse Propulsion, nukes, Patreon, Pax Orionis, projects, science fiction, spacecraft  8 Responses »
Sep 162015
 

One of the more interesting, but less known, aspect of the Orion program was code named “Casaba Howitzer.” Little is known of this, except that pulse unit technology was somehow adapted to turn the device into a single-shot nuclear directed energy weapon. The propellant was somehow collimated into a tight “beam” that would be able to destroy enemy warheads out in space at some considerable distance. Just what that distance would be, though, remains clouded by Classification.

I created a simple provisional concept for Casaba Howitzer for issue V2N2 of Aerospace Projects Review. Since then… I’ve found out no new info on CH. But I’ve put considerable thought into the thing, and have redesigned my concept. Since the design is all mine, it’s usefulness in a factual history of Orion is minimal, but it’s great for fiction. And so I’m working on a set of diagrams for CH for Pax Orionis, and will include layouts of the “deployed” Casaba Howitzer configuration with the next release. Other diagrams will show the launch configuration as well as internal layouts.

If interested, check out the Pax Orionis Patron.

becomeapatron

 Posted by at 9:51 am

Some Aerospace Art

 aircraft, APR, art, history, models, projects  2 Responses »
Jul 252015
 

I have added three hi-rez scans to the APR Patreon “Extras” Dropbox folder for the month of 2015-07. If you are interested in these, they are available to all $4 and up patrons at the APR Patreon.

Bell artwork from the late 70’s or ’80’s depicting the D316 tiltrotor, a proposed operational derivative of their XV-15 research tiltrotor.

Bel D316 Tiltrotor art

Convair 58-9 SST, derived from the B-58 bomber (see HERE for a well illustrated article on this and other B-58 SSTs):

Convair 59-9 SST display model

Early artwork for a VTOL fighter concept from Ryan; this would eventually become the X-13:

early ryan X-13 art

 Posted by at 10:09 am

Two decades of Nuclear Pulse Propulsion

 APR, blather, history, Hmm..., Nuclear Pulse Propulsion, Pax Orionis, spacecraft, ಠ_ಠ  5 Responses »
Jul 062015
 

I graduated in 1995 with a degree in aerospace engineering, and promptly put that degree to good use: my first job was moving mufflers from one side of a warehouse to another. After about a week there, I got a call from a former classmate who had got himself an internship at NASA-Johnson; they wanted those of us who’d worked on a  student design project for a moon probe to come and give a presentation. So I told my boss “I’m taking next week off.” When I got back they promptly fired me for ditching work… I wasn’t exactly tore up about that. When you’ve just been given a tour of the innards of a NASA facility, shuffling mufflers seems *really* depressing.

So, I buckled down and put my degree to use getting another job: moving items off one truck and onto another truck at a UPS depot. I was the one non-union, non-management guy there. It was my task to see to it that high-value packages ($5K and up) got off Truck A and onto Truck B, but due to union regs I wasn’t allowed to touch it; I had to beg a union worker to actually carry the package, which of course they did in their own time. A spectacular setup. Truly a model of efficiency.

Anyway, one day (*roughly* this time of summer, so right at 20 years ago) a result of a Freedom of Information Act Request showed up in the mail from NASA: the Summary volume of the General Atomic Project Orion report for NASA. It was a revelation! I took it to work with me one day and read through it on my lunch break (it’s not like I had to waste time socializing during lunch, since nobody would socialize with the one non-management, non-union guy), and a thought occurred to me:

“You know, I aught to take that $1.00  3D CAD program I just bought on floppy disk for my DOS computer and draw up the 10-meter Orion, and write an article describing the concept. I bet people might buy something like that.”

That was the first time it had occurred to me to take a stab at writing aerospace history in that format. I’ve been poking away at writing about Orion ever since.

So the NPP book has been in development for twenty years now. So based on that… how long do you think it’ll take to finish Pax Orionis? Hmmm…

 Posted by at 10:47 pm

2015-06 APR Patreon Rewards are out

 aircraft, APR, awesomeness, drawings, history, new products, news, nukes, Patreon, projects, rockets, spacecraft  No Responses »
Jun 272015
 

For APR Patrons, here’s what you now have available:

Documents: 2 General Electric reports on nuclear turbojets, *packed* with diagrams

Document: Mercury/Redstone booster recovery

Large diagram: 2 this time… “Long Tank Delta” space launch rocket and “Honest John” battlefield nuclear missile

CAD diagram: Convair “FISH,” 1958 configuration

If you’d like to access these and many others, or if you’d simply like to help the cause of recovering and making available forgotten aerospace ephemera such as this, please check out the APR Patreon page.

patreon-200

2015-06 ad

 Posted by at 9:50 pm

US Bomber Projects , APR, etc: slight change in transfer protocol

 American Nuclear Explosive Devices, APR, news  6 Responses »
May 072015
 

For a number of years, downloadable items have been made available through password protected directories at up-ship.com/blog. I am now in the process of switching over to using dropbox.com; this seems to make the downloading process a bit easier (and makes the uploading process a lot easier). So far I’ve transferred all of the US Bomber/Transport/Spacecraft and Launch Vehicle Projects files over (including the 11X17 specials) as well as American Nuclear Explosive Devices #1. Some testing has shown that it works well. If you’ve found the previous downloading system cumbersome, now might be a good time to try out the new system with some new USBP’s. It’s my goal to transfer *everything* over to this system… APR’s, drawings, documents. But I’m hoping for some feedback first in case there are any issues.

 Posted by at 2:30 pm

Bell D190B artwork

 aircraft, APR, art, Patreon, projects  No Responses »
Apr 262015
 

Below is an artists impression of the Bell D190B, a tilt-duct VTOL derived in part from the X-22. The D190 series, dating from the early 1960’s, was for a more-or-less common airframe design that could carry out a number of missions. Interestingly, variants of this design were considered for “parasite” roles. The aircraft could hard-dock to the underside of a C-130; the larger transport aircraft could then haul the smaller VTOL around the world, where it could serve as a rescue plane (note the rectangular hatch on the top of the fuselage). Another idea was for the small VTOL to serve as a crew or passenger transfer system for EC-135J (707 derivatives) flying command posts, including transporting VIPs (read: politicians) away from nuclear strikes to orbiting escape planes.

Sadly, while I’ve found many bits and pieces on this over the years, I’ve yet to come across good design data. If anyone has anything, I’d love to see it.

Bell D190B VTOL

I have made the full-rez version of this scan available at the APR Patreon for $4-and-up patrons. It is in the APR Patreon “Extras” Dropbox, in the 2015-04 folder.

 Posted by at 9:07 pm

Get 10% to 20% off APR, US Aerospace Projects, Drawings & Documents

 aircraft, APR, drawings, history, new products, news, Nuclear Pulse Propulsion, nukes, Patreon, projects, rockets, sales & specials, spacecraft, US Bomber Projects, US Launch Vehicle Projects, US Spacecraft Projects, US Transport Projects  No Responses »
Mar 272015
 

I have made some adjustments to the Aerospace Projects Review Patreon campaign. The first is that I’ve reduced the number of rewards levels, which I was informed was previously Too Many. More importantly, I have added some new rewards: if you become a patron at $5 or more per month, you receive 10% off all future purchases of APR, US Aerospace Projects and downloadable Documents and Drawings. If you become a patron at $10 per month, you will receive 20% off any such purchases. Check of the APR Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=197906

Additionally, the campaign has reached the point where the rewards are now *three* aerospace documents, one high-rez historical diagram and one all-new CAD diagram per month. This is in addition to the random “Extras” I throw in for $4 and up patrons. The most recent extra is a full-rez restoration of a three-view diagram of a 1978 McDonnell-Douglas concept for modifying Skylab to be serviced by the Space Shuttle. You can see a smaller-rez version of that here: http://www.aerospaceprojectsreview.com/blog/?p=2153

If you sign up now you will get the latest rewards which include:

  • A Bell Aircraft presentation on the SR-126 Bomber Missile, a manned ICBM predecessor of the Dyna Soar
  • A Lockheed paper on the history of the Polaris to Trident Fleet Ballistic Missile
  • A large poster illustrating the missiles and rockets of the Orbital Sciences Corporation
  • An all-new CAD diagram detailing the 10-meter Orion nuclear pulse propulsion vehicle designed by General Atomic for the USAF
 Posted by at 6:36 pm

Extras added to Patreon Dropbox

 APR, Patreon  No Responses »
Mar 052015
 

Along with the regularly scheduled “rewards,” APR Patreon patrons at the $4/month level and above also get occasional “extras.” I’ve been migrating them from the Patreon file system (which is a bit cumbersome and clumsy) to a Dropbox system (which is easy). I have just uploaded a number of documents to the Dropbox folder. These were prior extras.

Aereon SST brochure

“Introduction to Kistler” brochure

“Colonization of Space” by O’Neill

Aerial Gatling guns diagrams & info

Soviet article on a ramjet-equipped Sanger “Silverbird”

So if you’re a Patron, they’re available. If you’re not a patron but you want in, please GO HERE.

 Posted by at 12:48 am
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