Possibilities of New Business Growth: Shuttle Derived Launch Vehicles

 history, projects, rockets, spacecraft  No Responses »
Feb 062020
 

In 1985, Rockwell International contemplated the business case for Shuttle Derived Launch Vehicles. The specific design illustrated used the ET and SRB’s more or less stock, but the orbiter was replaced with a recoverable propulsion and avionics module. The payload came in the form of an upper stage with something very like the Apollo Command and Service Modules. This would probably have been for a lunar mission of some kind as a Shuttle-class booster is too big for a simple capsule mission to LEO. The basic design would have roughly performed like the presumably forthcoming SLS.

 Posted by at 11:17 pm

Possibilities of New Business Growth: Military Spaceplanes

 aircraft, projects, rockets, spacecraft  No Responses »
Jan 252020
 

In 1985 Rockwell thought that there might be a business case for a small unmanned spaceplane for recon purposes. At the time, the answer was apparently no… but within a few years Rockwell developed the “REFLY” spaceplane which, over a span of a couple decades, transmorgified into the X-37B which has flown a handful of top secret long duration missions.

 Posted by at 4:08 pm

Risk

 art, awesomeness, history, rockets, spacecraft, youtube  No Responses »
Jan 202020
 

So, SpaceX lobbed a Dragon into the sky, willingly destroying a Falcon 9 booster system to prove out the abort capability of their capsule. This was a ballsy move; had anything gone wrong, their opponents in government, industry and media would have pounced, likely causing SpaceX to have to delay for months or years before daring to risk an actual astronaut. Boeing, in contrast, opted to replace a very visible, very public flight test of their capsules abort system with a mountain of paperwork that, if printed out, very likely would have massed more than the capsule if not the whole booster.

And so I was reminded of this old, old TV ad for the financial firm AIG. I’ve posted this video before (going on two years, also referencing SpaceX), but damn if it just doesn’t seem relevant.

Every time I watch this the room somehow gets dusty.

 Posted by at 11:29 am

SpaceX Dragon abort test

 news, rockets, spacecraft, youtube  No Responses »
Jan 192020
 

Well, here they go (hopefully):

UPDATE: the flight seemed to go entirely successfully, from launch to engine shutdown, capsule abort, trunk jettison, re-orientation, re-entry, drogue chutes, main chutes, splashdown. The videos cut off prior to the rescue boats getting to the capsule, but at this stage I image everything is hunky dory within the capsule. As expected, the booster tumbled and kerploded quite spectacualrly.

 

 Posted by at 8:14 am

Return to space: March?

 awesomeness, blather, Hmm..., news, rockets, spacecraft  No Responses »
Jan 172020
 

SpaceX is doing an abort test of their Dragon 2 capsule tomorrow. All goes according to schedule, the Falcon 9 will launch normally at 8 AM eastern time tomorrow and 84 seconds later the capsules abort motors will fire. The Falcon 9 first and second stages will be destroyed, but the capsule will – hopefully – be successfully recovered. With that success and a few more tests, SpaceX could be ready to send astronauts to the ISS in March.

Pending test outcomes, NASA says SpaceX could launch astronauts in early March

The US hasn’t launched a human into space since 2011. A good argument can be made that the US ceased to be a superpower at the point, since it was now dependent upon another nation for vital functions. Falcon and Dragon sending crews to the ISS would be a good *start* at returning the US to superpower status, though to really deserve that title the US will need to resume the project of advancement into space. And that means doing something better than simply going in circles.

 Posted by at 4:38 pm

Sea Dragon Launch

 APR, art, awesomeness, Hmm..., projects, rockets, science fiction, youtube  1 Response »
Jan 052020
 

Apparently the Apple+ series “For All Mankind” ends with a post-credit scene of a Sea Dragon lifting off…

Giggity!

It’s an imperfect depiction (it’s far too submerged for starters), but it’s still spiffy as hell. If only it had an Orion as a payload, I *might* be tempted too plunk down the funds to spend on yet another unnecessary streaming channel.

If you are wondering just what the “Sea Dragon” was and whether it was a real concept… take a look at Aerospace Projects Review article on it HERE. That article was originally published as part of APR issue V4N6 and is available separately, or with a complete Volume 4 bundle.

 

 Posted by at 2:24 pm
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