Jul 092018
 

here was a time when rocket engineers and launch vehicle/spacecraft designers felts reasonably comfortable proposing the use of propellants that today would be considered *insane.* One of these was fluorine, an oxidizer so powerful that it will oxidize *oxygen.* Liquified it is denser than LOX and provides a higher specific impulse than LOX when burned with the same fuels. On paper, liquid fluorine is spectacular. In reality, fluorine is toxic and just about all of the combustion compounds are toxic (burn it with hydrogen and you get hydrofluoric acid, which will eat your bones). Fluorine has the added bonus that it will merrily combust with a whole lot of structural materials, so you have to be careful in your design and preparation for tanks, pumps, lines, etc.

Consequently, it was important to know your stuff. To that end, Douglas Missile & Space Systems Division produced a Fluorine Systems Handbook.

This Handbook contains criteria for the design of airborne fluorine feed
systems and associated components. Two types of information are presented:
1) philosophical information defining general methods, and 2) detailed specifications
and procedures. Although the major emphasis has been upon
criteria for components exposed to elemental fluorine, the information is
general applicable to systems utilizing other cryogenic oxidizers which contain
fluorine as a constituent.

So if you are planning on fueling your rocketship with liquid fluorine… here ya go. You’re welcome.

Fluorine Systems Handbook

 Posted by at 1:55 am
Jul 012018
 

This isn’t a particularly new video (dates back to 2014, at least), but it’s still entertaining. There is apparently a tradition in Thailand to celebrate festivals not just with rockets, but with complex and clever spinning rocket-powered vehicles made from bamboo. The one in this video is particularly large and equipped with a recovery system.

This is not only impressive on its own. But compare it to the celebratory pyrotechnics of other cultures: waving crappy AK-47s around and spraying the sky with bullets, or just simply blowing stuff up, or setting people on fire. This is instead the product of intelligence, workmanship, planning and teamwork… and it worked.

 Posted by at 5:02 pm
Jul 012018
 

If you want to know what it will look like when Putin launches World War V (WWIII having been the Cold War, WWIV the Surt worshippers vs. civilization), it’ll look kinda like this, just more so (things get sporty around 2:06):

 

I look forward to the day when the US fields new boomers, SLBMs, nukes and RVs. They are desperately needed.

 Posted by at 4:37 pm
Jun 222018
 

Air Force certifies Falcon Heavy, orders satellite launch for 2020

A $130 million contract to launch the Air Force Space Command-52 satellite.That’s more than the Falcon 9 Heavy is normally supposed to cost, but the extra is due to government assurance requirements. Even with the price increase, it’s still one-third to one-half the price of a Delta IV heavy.

The falcon 9 Heavy already has flights lined up for the near future…the STP-2flight with a bunch of mini-payloads for November 2018, Arabsat in December. Inmarsat and Viasat hd prior launches scheduled with SpaceX but moved to Ariane V due to delays, but kept their agreements with SpaceX and may lunch with them in the future.

 Posted by at 3:55 am
Jun 202018
 

First draft of diagrams for the next issue of US Launcher Projects. This will include concepts such as an eight-F-1 Nova, a 1962 Lockheed fully reusable spaceplane launcher, a Boeing HTOHL SSTO, a Convair VTOHL Delta Clipper competitor, a giant SPS launcher, a balloon-recovered Saturn I, an early Space Shuttle concept and an expendable SSTO.

 Posted by at 8:02 pm
Jun 192018
 

The first Aerojet-Rocketdyne AR-22 rocket engine has recently been assembled. This is a somewhat modified version of the old Space Shuttle Main Engine, meant specifically to power the first stage of the Boeing “Phantom Express” spaceplane. Thrust is 375,000 pounds and the engine is meant to be used 55 times, with servicing every 10 missions.

First Engine Assembled for DARPA and Boeing Reusable Experimental Spaceplane

The Phantom Express is meant to fly often and inexpensively… and appears to be basically an updated version of the mid-90’s Rockwell design for the X-33. It’s not clear to me that a hydrogen-burner using SSME-derived tech can compete economically with the likes of the Falcon 9, but the Phantom Express isn’t really intended to compete in the commercial market. Instead, the Phantom Express is intended as military launch system, lobbing relatively small satellites – communications and recon, with the possibility of GPS-replacements in the event that military action takes them out. Given that any future war with a major opponent will certainly involve attacks on American space infrastructure, it’s reasonable for DARPA to want to have as many rapid response launch systems as practical. The basic concept underlying the Phantom Express is simple and straightforward enough, and likely to be somewhat more rugged and reliable than the hoverslam landing system of the Falcon series… at the cost of probably weighing more.

 Posted by at 8:00 pm
Jun 102018
 

A Boeing illustration from 1964 showing a number of designs for lifting entry vehicles that Boeing had produced by that point. Most of these are manned vehicle concepts; a few of them are unfamiliar to me. The “B-3 —– B” looks like it might have been an ASSET competitor. The “Recoverable Booster” at top is one of several similar V-shaped designs that used a modestly modified Dyna Soar as the crew capsule up front. One such design was the Model 895 shown (along with competing ASP designs from other firms) in Aerospace Projects Review issue V2N5.

 

 Posted by at 12:19 am
Jun 082018
 

Bad news: the Chinese have already pilfered it.

What Secretive Anti-Ship Missile Did China Hack From The U.S. Navy?

The “Sea Dragon” is a mysterious missile program that began in 2015 and has already resulted in flight vehicles, with new versions being prepared for launch by submarines while submerged. The article suggests several possibilities of what the “Sea Dragon” might be… but one thing it does seem to be is the next missile design the Chinese will be building, since they managed to  swipe half a terabyte of data.

It’s great that the Navy might actually be developing something new. Not helpful is letting our enemies just copy the damn thing. Somebody needs a whoopin’.

 

 Posted by at 10:51 pm