spacecraft – Page 153 – The Unwanted Blog

Some documents for Patreon

aircraft, art, awesomeness, drawings, drawings&documents, history, new products, news, Patreon, projects, rockets, spacecraft No Responses »

Jun 302014

Here are photos of portions of a few documents I’m considering as Patreon rewards. These have not yet been scanned in; some will require a bit of effort to make them presentable, but all are pretty interesting in my view. If I understand the Patreon system correctly, the system debits the credit cards or PayPal accounts of those who have pledged at the “end of the month ” (any day now, I expect), and the rewards will be distributed a few days later – when I have them ready – to those who have been successfully charged. The upshot is that if you buy in the day *after* billing, you don’t get the rewards for this month, but only *next* month. So you miss out on the first batch. The $100 benchmark is safely in the past, and there seems to be a slow creep towards the $200 benchmark, which will mean two uploads as rewards for the first month is feasible. In the event that the contribution level gets there, I’ll try to have one large format drawing and one document per month, so long as that’s practical.

So if you don’t want to miss anything, sign up soon!

A NASA report from 1972 showing a *lot* of designs for Space Shuttle concepts. Includes designs that clearly foreshadowed the Shuttle as actually built, as well as some really wacky ones.

Two official aircraft recognition guides from the early 1950s to help ground observers tell friendlies from potential bandits.

A Convair report from 1948 on an assault seaplane. Includes a *lot* of excessively detailed design diagrams. This one might have to be broken up into several parts due to the size of it.

A report on the Regulus II missile which includes detailed diagrams of both the tactical missile version and the reusable test flight version. Some really snazzy large foldouts, which will require a bit of work to clean up.

Boeing CST-100

projects, rockets, spacecraft, youtube 5 Responses »

Jun 292014

A propaganda video by Boeing on their CST-100 space capsule:

[youtube 6VYIUi9H3vM]

Some large-format diagrams for Patreon

aircraft, drawings, history, news, nukes, Patreon, rockets, spacecraft No Responses »

Jun 282014

Yay! I’ve gone over the $100 benchmark in my Patreon campaign, so I will be releasing at least one large format image or high-rez scanned aerospace document per month. It’s only a pittance per month to get in on this!

These are vastly-reduced versions of some of the diagrams I may include as rewards for Patreon patronage. Not all are unbuilt aerospace projects, obviously, but all are, I trust, of interest to those interested in aerospace. If interested, please consider joining my Patreon campaign. Also to be provided are PDFs of aerospace documents.

Support The Cause via Patreon

aircraft, APR, blather, drawings, Hmm..., new products, news, projects, rockets, spacecraft, US Bomber Projects, wisdom 1 Response »

Jun 282014

EDIT: I should note that Patreon contributions will likely be the sole source for most if not all of the diagrams and documents I release from here on. A few might wind up being sold individually as with prior Air & Space Dwgs & Docs, but most if not all won’t. I will shortly post information on some of what I have coming up. Some of it will, I trust, be of considerable interest to many…

I’ve launched the Patreon funding campaign:

http://www.patreon.com/user?u=197906

If you appreciate the aerospace research I do and the stuff I dig up, please consider contributing. As a bonus, you will get goodies if you do! High rez large format diagram scans, brochures, reports, proposals, etc.

Pledge $0.75 or more per month

You get my thanks and a warm fuzzy feeling, knowing that you are contributing to saving the history of aerospace engineering!

Pledge $1.50 or more per month

You will receive the uploaded documents and blueprints at 125 dpi

Pledge $3.00 or more per month

You will receive the uploaded documents and blueprints at 200 dpi

Pledge $4.00 or more per month

You will receive the uploaded documents and blueprints at 300 dpi

Pledge $5.00 or more per month

You will receive the uploaded documents and blueprints at 300 dpi plus a bonus CAD diagram at 300 dpi, sized for 8.5X11

Pledge $6.00 or more per month

You will receive the uploaded documents and blueprints at 300 dpi plus a bonus CAD diagram at 300 dpi sized for 11X17

Pledge $8.00 or more per month

You will receive the uploaded documents and blueprints at 300 dpi plus a bonus CAD diagram at 300 dpi sized for 18X24 or larger AND the diagram in the native vector format

Pledge $10.00 or more per month

You will receive all the prior rewards, plus have the opportunity to vote on what will be released next.

Tell all your friends.

Manned Atlas V/ Delta IVs

art, projects, rockets, spacecraft 16 Responses »

Jun 272014

Found on eBay, a set of fridge magnets printed with three manned United Launch Alliance launch options: the Boeing CST-100, the Sierra Nevada Dream Chaser and the Orion capsule in the Exploration Flight Test 1 (first unmanned flight) configuration. I’ve not found better versions of these illustrations elsewhere, sadly. This image was processed a bit to straighten and brighten the photo posted on eBay.

Extendable Lab

art, projects, spacecraft 4 Responses »

Jun 242014

Saw this on eBay a while back. No further data. I assume it’s from the early/mid 1960’s, early MOL era. I don’t imagine that it was a particularly serious study; I’ve never seen it’s like elsewhere, and it seems like it would be quite heavy and prone to leaks. A reasonable guess would put the diameter at 10 feet, standard for the time (same diameter as the Titan II/TIIIc core vehicle).

I tinkered a bit to fix the warping and clean up the image:

SLS wind tunnel testing

models, projects, rockets, spacecraft, youtube 6 Responses »

Jun 232014

A rather uninformative (no narration) NASA-Langley video of supersonic wind tunnel testing of the proposed Space Launch System. Interesting for the shots of the model itself (nice to see actual models, rather than just CGI), as well as a few shots showing the shock waves shed off the body.

[youtube 8NxB0KAsous]

EMPIRE Mars lander

art, history, projects, rockets, spacecraft 2 Responses »

Jun 222014

In 1962, NASA-Marshall Space Flight Center kicked off the EMPIRE (Early Manned Planetary Interplanetary Roundtrip Expeditions) studies. This was a preliminary examination of manned missions to other planets, mostly looking at Mars, with Venus flyby and orbital missions as well.

Contracts went to General Dynamics, Lockheed and the Aeroneutronic Division of Ford. Yes, Ford, the car company: at the time, rather than the American aerospace industry being so tightly contracted that there were only a handful of players, the industry was so lively and vast that *car* companies were doing good business in aerospace (Chrysler built the Redstone rocket, the first stage of the Saturn I and even proposed an SSTO for the Shuttle program).

General Dynamics/Convair produced the best known of the resulting studies. With much of the work overseen by Krafft Ehricke, there was a distinct sense of enthusiasm to it; much of the results of the EMPIRE study crossed departments and ended up in General Atomics Project Orion work. One portion of the EMPIRE design that Orion adopted was the manned Mars Excusion Module (MEM).

In configuration the lander looked much like an Apollo Command & (shortened) Service Module with three landing legs. instead of a conventional parachute, it used a metal ring that was to serve much the same purpose. The Mercury-like “Abort Tower” was to be used at liftoff; it would drag the ascent vehicle up far enough that ignition of the main engine would not through debris around that could strike and damage the ascent vehicle.

Sadly, this design was produce before the Mariner 4 probe flew by Mars . The data sent back by Mariner 4 showed that the atmosphere of mars was more than an order of magnitude thinner than had been expected, with the result that aerodynamic braking would be far more difficult. Thus, this design simply would not have worked on Mars; it would have slammed into the ground at high speed.

Cheap Space Flight

aircraft, blather, contest, Hmm..., news, rockets, spacecraft 16 Responses »

Jun 182014

A ticket to ride XCOR’s suborbital Lynx spaceplane: $10. The hitch: it’s a lottery.

Ticket to Rise

This seems like a decent enough idea to me. Spaceflight is *waaaay* beyond the means of regular folks, but as the success of lotteries across the country shows, people are more than willing to cough up a handful of bucks for a vanishingly small chance of winning.

This is a way to fund charities as well. You can choose from a list of charities that your money will go to, including dubious but well-known organizations like PETA and a bunch of charities I’ve never heard of, like “Girl Tank” (which turns out to be neither of the two things that immediately sprang to mind), and the somehow awesome-sounding “Chuck Jones Center for Creativity.” Sadly, the list of charities seems kinda newagey (at least one of ’em is all about “transcendental meditation”); I’d be happier if there was an organization organizing a “nuclear reactor for every neighborhood” or “end poverty by assassinating tyrants and theocrats and instilling capitalism” or some such, but hey, cheap space flight!

There are a half dozen or so different donation amounts, from $10 to $1000, with five lotto tickets per dollar donated. Maybe it’s just my browser, but the website seems kinda squirrely to navigate.

Aerospace Projects Review issue V3N4 now available

aircraft, APR, art, awesomeness, drawings, history, new products, news, projects, rockets, secrets, spacecraft 31 Responses »

Jun 162014

At last: Aerospace Projects Review issue V3N4 is available. This issue has 128 pages. The main article focuses on the Boeing Model 844-2050E, the final, almost-built version of the X-20 Dyna Soar spaceplane. Included are not only detailed diagrams showing the design and construction of the spaceplane, but also drawings and information on proposed operational versions, including passenger ferries, satellite inspectors/interceptors, even nuclear bomber versions.

Also included are a large number of all-new diagrams that finally show the Dyna Soar atop the Titan IIIC accurately and in detail, along with proposed variants, variant launch systems and suggested space stations.

An article by Bill Slayton on the Lockheed CL-295 design series. This was a series of tailsitter VTOL fighters including designs derived from the F-104 as well as wholly new designs.

The third article is on the McDonnell F-4(FVS),a mid-1960’s concept to replace the low-mounted fixed wing of the F-4 Phantom II with an all-new variable geometry “swing wing.” The story goes from the F-4(FVS) in its numerous incarnations through the Model 225, McDonnell-Douglas’ entry into the 1968 US Navy VFX contest which resulted in the F-14.

Also, Aerospace History Nuggets on the US Navy SCAT VTOL and the Republic Aircraft RAC-730 SSTO aerospaceplane.

23 megabyte PDF file

Here’s the complete issue V3N4 layout:

It is available in three formats. Firstly, it can be downloaded directly from me for the low, low price of $10.00. Second, it can be purchased as a professionally printed volume through Magcloud; third, it can be procured in both formats. To get the download, simply pay for it here through paypal.

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To get the printed version (or print + PDF version), visit my MagCloud page:

http://scottlowther.magcloud.com/

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Also available: the V3N4 Addendum. This contains 49 pages formatted for 11X17. Includes larger and improved versions of all the CAD diagrams produced for V3N4, as well as larger versions of some of the illustrations from the X-20 and F-4(FVS) articles (as well as a number of illustrations that did not appear in the X-20 article):

The V3N4 Addendum can be downloaded for only $4.00!
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