Sep 012009
A Project RAND study reported on in 1951 unveiled this design for a two-stage hydrazine/oxygen space launcher, with a recon satellite for payload:
Compared to the original RAND rocket of 1946, it is substantially “modernized.” Still a way to go, but it’s not a bad design. And it’s clearly the predecessor to the Project Feed Back vehicle from 1954 (reported on in the V2N3 issue of Aerospace Projects Review) . This sort of thing shows that even without the German rocket engineers, the US still would likely have been able to field a proper space launch industry sometime in the late 1950’s.
One Response to “RAND rocket: 1951”
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Kewel!
Great find!
Regards the 1946 study ISTR that there was a Navy study at the same time for a SSTO satellite and at least one other proposal. I was wondering if the math on the 1946 studies actually works out in hindsight.