Continuing. By stretching the ET and adding a segment to each of the SRBs, an additional 30 to 35 thousand pounds (!) of payload could be carried to polar orbit.
Next time: Stretching the Orbiter itself!
Aug 252019
Aug 232019
Continuing…
The notion of adding a “docking module” to the Shuttle to allow it to dock with another spacecraft. Here’s one that actually got built and used for docking to Mir and ISS.
Next time: a stretched External Tank & SRBs for increased payload.
Aug 212019
Continuing… An idea for added propellant tanks for the rear of the cargo bay. The propellant would feed not the SSME’s, but the orbital maneuvering system engines. This would allow the Shuttle to reach higher orbital altitudes.
Aug 192019
Continuing. This time, discussion of possibilities of higher thrust SSMEs including the SSME-150 with an extendable nozzle. Once again this would be for increased payload capability, in particular 32,000 pounds to polar orbit from Vandenburg.
Hey. Hey.
Aug 182019
Continuing. This time, discussion of possibilities of swapping out existing Orbiter structures with graphite composites. The advantage would be lowered dry mass of the Orbiter, leading to potentially higher payload performance. this would, presumably, be of interest for USAF launches from Vandenburg, a possibility that Challenger put to bed.
If this sort of stuff is of interest or use, why not help support the project? A monthly subscription to the APR Monthly Historical Documents Program would not only help support the project, it would also provide you with a monthly package of rare aerospace documents and diagrams.
Aug 162019
Aug 162019
Around three years ago I posted some rather cruddy images of a saucer-shaped nuclear-powered spacecraft that the Chrysler corporation drew up in 1956. At this time a manned spacecraft was a perfectly normal sort of thing for Chrysler to design; their aerospace division was responsible for the Redstone missile and the Saturn I first stage. One of the images was a small scan of the cover of the August-September 1957 issue of “Saucer News.” I finally managed to score a copy of this “fanzine”on ebay a while back and have scanned the cover at high (600 dpi) resolution. The image quality is a bit regrettable, but what can you expect from a 1950’s UFO magazine.
As always, if anyone might happen to know anything more about this design, I’m all ears. Chrysler long ago got rid of their aerospace division and whatever archive it might have had.
I have uploaded the full resolution scan to the 2019-08 APR Extras Dropbox folder, available to $4 and up subscribers to the APR Monthly Historical Documents Program.
Aug 152019
One sizable document I’ve scanned for preservation is a Rockwell presentation package from October, 1985, showing a large number of space programs that the company could capitalize on. These included everything from minor mods to the Space Shuttle to major changes… stretching the orbiter, stretching the tank, adding additional boosters. Heavy lift boosters to put SLS to shame; heavy lift SSTOs; small experimental spaceplanes; manned military spaceplanes; space-based weaponry; space stations; space based nuclear power. Figured this stuff might be of some modest interest. So why not, I’ll post little bits of it from time to time.
Aug 112019
Some time back I came across a few diagrams of the Martin B-57B&C bomber.
I have uploaded the full resolution scans (600 dpi) to the 2019-08 APR Extras Dropbox folder, available to $4 and up subscribers to the APR Monthly Historical Documents Program.
Aug 042019
In 1964 Lockheed put forward a design in the US Army’s Advanced Aerial Fire Support System (AAFSS) program that would eventually win and become the AH-56 Cheyenne. But Lockheed was not alone in tendering a proposal: Sikorsky entered their S-66 design.
Both helicopters would have been advanced and fast. Lockheed made the AH-56 fast by adding a pusher prop to the tail, just aft of the conventional anti-torque rotor. But Sikorsky went a slightly different route: the S-66 used the “rotaprop” tail. This combined anti-torque duties with forward thrust in a single mechanism… a single somewhat complicated mechanism that could turn the sideways-thrusting anti-torque rotor 90 degrees to point it aft, providing forward thrust. This would have decreased drag and potentially decreased weight, but at added technical risk compared to the relatively simple solution of just adding a dedicated pusher prop. In late 1965, the Army decided that the risk was too high, and went with Lockheeds design.
The S-66 design got a fair amount of publicity during the contest, but I’ve never actually run across the proposal documentation or design diagrams. A few photos of a display model and a single cutaway drawing are presented HERE. Below are some magazine illustrations of the S-66. It would have been an impressive helicopter had it been built and if it had been successful, looking not unlike a sleeker version of the Mil 24 Hind attack helicopter.
