launch vehicles – Page 44 – Aerospace Projects Review Blog

Grumman shuttle/Saturn concept

hypersonic, launch vehicles, space shuttle, spaceplane No Responses »

Feb 142012

From 1970, a Grumman Alternate Space Shuttle design that utilizes the S-IC booster from the Saturn V. Quite a number of Space Shuttle concepts called for the S-IC to be used as a first stage booster, as an expendable stage, a partially reusable or fully reusable stage. Shown here, the basic S-IC would be expendable. However, a second option would be to use a modified S-IC where the outer four engines would drop off during ascent and would be recovered. This is the same concept that Boeing proposed for the S-ID stage (see the October 2008 issue of the AIAA-Houston “Horizons” newsletter for more on the S-ID).

The use of a S-IC – stock or modified for partial recovery – would have presented a number of advantages, not least being that the existing Saturn launch facilities could be used. The S-IC would have provided adequate launch performance; the use of recoverable engines would have lowered cost and increased performance. However, the S-IC production line had been shut down for some time, and restarting it would have proven not only politically dubious (restating the S-IC would have led to questions about restarting the rest of the Saturn/Apollo line), but also expensive.

Early Convair Space Shuttle

launch vehicles, space shuttle No Responses »

Feb 112012

In October of 1969, General Dynamics/Convair reported to NASA on their Space Shuttle design work. This included a series of vehicles that utilized boosters and orbiters of similar geometry… basically little more than flat-bottomed aeroshells wrapped around the oxygen and hydrogen tanks. Both the booster and orbiter used turbofans stowed in the nose for flyback, and high aspect ratio variable geometry wings.

A number of configurations were studied, including triamese configurations with two boosters that had considerable commonality with the orbiter, to two-stage systems with entirely different boosters and orbiters. Payloads studied ranged from 25,000 pounds to 50,000 pounds. Note in the scale drawings below that the 50K version was virtually the same size as the Saturn V. This was due in part to the all-hydrogen fuel, and part as a consequence of reusability.

Early “Sea Launch” Concepts

launch vehicles No Responses »

Jan 262012

A Boy Scout booklet on making models (printed sometime in the 1980′s or later, but was originally printed in 1964) contained a number of rather tiny black and white futuristic automobile, ship, aircraft and spacecraft artists concepts. Sadly, there were no notations as to who created the artwork. Several of the pieces I recognize as having been created for Real Projects by Real Companies or Real Government Organizations, so I assume that at least most of the ones I *don’t* recognize were also “real” projects, as opposed to, say, artwork created for Mechanix Illustrated.

Three of the illustrations show large ships preparing to launch large missiles. These can be safely assumed to be space launch rockets rather than ICBMs.

The first illustration seems to show an Atlas launch vehicle being launched off the back of a large ship… apparently a modified aircraft carrier. The payload on the Atlas has an escape tower… indicating that it’s a manned Atlas (perhaps Mercury). Oddly, the ship seems to be underway to judge from the wake. This seems unlikely, unless it’s a tactic to keep up with the wind. Chances are fair that this might be a Convair concept.

The second concept shows a smaller ship and a smaller rocket. Perhaps a Scout?

The third concept shows another large ship, heavily modified with what look to be armored domes. The rocket appears to be an Atlas-Centaur.There appear to be propellant tanks amidships… perhaps liquid hydrogen tanks. Again, chances are fair that this is a Convair concept.

Jan 232012

I keep getting asked the same questions, so I guess I should have a Frequently Asked Questions page for my downloads. Well, here it is.
Q01: How does this work?

A: It’s not an automated system. The way it works is that when you place an order through Paypal, Paypal sends me an email notifying me of the order. I then reply to the email address listed in the order, providing you with the web address where you can find your document, plus the username and password you’ll need in order to access it.

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Q02: “I just ordered a document. It’s been a whole 2 seconds, and I don’t have it yet. Where is it?”

A: I’m asleep/out buying groceries/fighting off hordes of zombies. I’ll respond to your email just as soon as I can.

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Q03: “I just ordered a document. It’s been a whole 24 hours, and I don’t have it yet. Where is it?”

A1: Check your “spam bucket.” Some spam filters see response messages such as you’ll get from me as spam, since there is a web address listed in it.

A2: Are you using the email address attached to the Paypal account? The response email with all your download info will be sent to the Paypal-listed email address. If you are using someone else’s Paypal address, or something like that, then *they* will receive the reply.

A3: On rare occasion, the automated Paypal system that sends me order notifications fails to do so. Thus I don’t know you’ve ordered something. Feel free to send a “where’s my stuff” email to:

A4: Search your inbox. You might have gotten the message, but not noticed or recognized it. The header will be something like “Re: Notification of payment received” or “Re: Payment received from YourEmail@YourEmailDomain.com.”

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Q04: “I ordered a document for downloading, but the username and password aren’t working.”

A: By far the most common reason for this is either you’re typing the password wrong… or if you are using cut-and-paste, you are grabbing a spurious blank space. Try again, making sure to cut *just* the password.

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Q05: “I tried that, but it’s still not letting me in.”

A: The second biggest offender is your web browser. Something or other to do with cookies, or something. If you have another web browser (Netscape, Explorer, Firefox, whatever), try that.

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Q06: “I’ve downloaded a PDF file. What do I need to open it?”

A: Adobe Reader. It’s a free program.

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Q07: “I’ve downloaded a ZIP file. What do I need to open it?”

A: Any modern computer should have come with an unzipping program built in. If not, do a search for “unzip,” and download a program to your liking.

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Q08: “I ordered a drawing set, and can see the files named ‘XYZ halfsize.gif’ and ‘XYZ quartersize.gif,” but not the full size image. Why?”

A: Some of the full size images are quite large. Sometimes they are so large that operating systems and/or image viewing and processing programs simply refuse to show them. All of the full-size images I sell are viewable on *my* system, which is a bit antiquated… but that doesn’t mean that they will be viewable on *all* systems. This is why I include the “halfsize” and “quartersize” versions, so that everybody should be able to see the images. You do still have the full-rez image… try looking at it on another computer.

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Q09: “Ooops, I ordered the wrong thing. I wanted A, but I seem to have actually ordered B. Can I have A?”

A1: If the error is due to something screwy in the webpage – rare, but it has happened that a typo in the HTML coding can lead to this sort of thing – then I’ll fix you right up with a proper download of A. Keep the other item, free of charge.
A2: A slightly more common error is on my part… you order SDOC4, say, and I mistakenly send you the link to SDWG4. In that case, let me know, and I’ll fix you right up with what you actually ordered. Keep the other item, free of charge.

A3: If the error is due to you simply ordering the wrong thing… well… the problem with digital files is that you can easily make copies of them, and thus cannot really be returned. So if my policy was to automatically “correct” “mistakes,” then it’d be the easiest thing in the world to scam me right out of half my catalog.

So… no. If you wanted A but mistakenly ordered B, I’ll be happy to fill your *next* order for A.

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Q10: “I bought one of your documents, and want to extract the images from it for my own devious purposes. However, it’s password protected. Gimme the password. Gimme.”

A: The documents (air docs, space docs and APr’s, but not DCD’s) are password protected *solely* to try to minimise piracy of ’em. The documents will open just fine and will print just fine at high rez, but image and text extraction will present a challenge. I’ve had issues with people taking the data I’ve worked hard to find and prepare and then turning it around and reselling it (grrr). However, if you have a valid use for extracted images, let me know, and I’ll almost certainly fork over the relevant password.

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Q11: “I want you to add me to your mailing list.”

A: No can do. The system I use now requires that the person who wants on the mailing list add themselves (I can add you, or the system will think I’m a spammer). So, simply go HERE and add your email address.

I’ll update this FAQ as questions come in. Feel free to comment

APR issue V0N0 now available

bomber, fighter, hypersonic, jetliner, launch vehicles, space shuttle, spacecraft, spaceplane, transports, VTOL 1 Response »

Jan 202012

Aerospace Projects Review has been re-working and re-releasing the original run of issues in order… until now. Just finished and uploaded is an issue that might not be expected… issue V0N0. Prior to publishing the first issue of Aerospace Projects Review, I put together issue V0N0, a short prototype issue that I released for free to see if people liked it and if it would be worth continuing with. There was much that could have been improved about that issue… and it has been improved. Issue eV0N0 is now greatly expanded to 56 pages… small by modern APR standards, but a massive increase compared to the original. The original articles have been greatly expanded, and all-new articles have been added.

Preview the issue here:

The table of contents for eV0N0:

The Drawbridge and the Pancake: One of the more unusual Space Shuttle configurations

Northrop N-31 Flying Wing Bomber: A series of turboprop-powered bomber designs

Martin XB-68: A supersonic tactical bomber concept

Aerospace History Nugget: Mach 6.0 SST: Three fuselages for the price of one

Kaiser Tailless Airplane: A flying wing cargo carrier

Boeing VTOL Intercity Transport: A jetliner that can land on your office building

Boeing Transport-To-Space: The spaceplane that needs to be assembled in space

Aerospace History Nugget: Curtis High-Speed Fighter Concepts: Hypothetical fighters designed for maximum speed

Aerospace History Nugget: Convair VTOL Tailsitter: An early VTOL jet fighter capable of supersonic speeds

It is available in three formats. Firstly, it can be downloaded directly from me for the low, low price of $6.50. 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/

The Downloading FAQ

Nova Class III in Hi Rez

launch vehicles, spacecraft 4 Responses »

Jan 112012

The Class III designs for Nova were intended to use advanced propulsion systems, advanced materials and be fully recoverable. Shown below is a NASA briefing chart on Nova Class III designs from September 1963 showing three Class III designs. The first is an airbreathing SSTO concept… a conical vehicle with rocket engines at the rim, and a ;large duct wrapped around them. This produced an ejector effect, in theory greatly increasing thrust at low airspeed. As velocity increased, fuel could be injected directly into the duct, turning it into a ramjet. The ramjet would of course be use for only a relatively brief portion of the flight, so the duct would be dropped not long into the flight, presumably to be parachute recovered in the ocean. The other two designs are substantially more conventional, though both used plug cluster engines.

You can download a 4.4 megabyte JPG file of the artwork; the link is HERE. To access it, you will need to enter a username and password. The username: the first word in the body of the text on page 12 of APR issue V1N6. The password: the first word in the body of the text on page 14 of the same issue. Note that both are case sensitive.

Nova Class II Designs in hi-rez

hi-rez, launch vehicles 6 Responses »

Jan 072012

NASA artwork from September of 1963 illustrating three configurations for Class II Nova designs. The Class II designs ere mid-technology designs… new engines and new engine types, but nothing crazy. Some stage reusability was expected, though not complete vehicle reusability.

You can download a 4.7 megabyte JPG file of the artwork; the link is HERE. To access it, you will need to enter a username and password. The username: the first word in the body of the text on page 26 of APR issue V2N1. The password: the first word in the body of the text on page 31 of the same issue. Note that both are case sensitive.

Nova Class I Designs in hi-rez

hi-rez, launch vehicles, spacecraft 5 Responses »

Jan 042012

NASA artwork from September of 1963 illustrating two configurations for Class I Nova designs. The Class 1 designs were the lowest-technology of the three classes suggested, and involved the use of expendable vehicles and conventional propulsion systems.

Still, the Nova designs were sized to carry payloads of a million pounds or more, about four times that of the Saturn V.

You can download a 4.1 megabyte JPG file of the artwork; the link is HERE. To access it, you will need to enter a username and password. The username: the first word in the body of the text on page 7 of APR issue V2N3. The password: the first word in the body of the text on page 10 of the same issue. Note that both are case sensitive.

APR issue V3N2 Addendum now available

bomber, fighter, launch vehicles, space shuttle, stealth 6 Responses »

Dec 172011

APR issues used to be published with a mishmash of of 8.5X11 and 11X17 pages. When I started releasing issues on MagCloud, APR became an all-8.5X11 publication.

However, there are oftentimes illustrations that would benefit from being on 11X17, such as many in issue V3N2. Additionally, there are often more illustrations than can be conveniently added to a coherent article. So I have put together an addendum for V3N2, including a number of larger-format illustrations and some new ones that didn’t make it into V3N2. This includes:

1/72 scale CAD drawings from the F-23 derivatives article (they were 1/144 scale in V3N2)
1/96 scale CAD drawings of the FB-23 (formerly 1/144 scale)
Larger-size and additional color renderings of the F-23A and NATF-23 by artist Ken Scott
Larger-size versions of the “Christmas Fighter,” YF-23, F-23A and NATF-23 diagrams
Larger-size and additional diagrams covering the STAR Clipper and derivatives

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The V3N2 Addendum can be downloaded directly from me for the low, low price of $5. To get the download, simply pay for it here through paypal.

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McDonnell Douglas series-burn booster for Shuttle

launch vehicles, space shuttle, spaceplane 1 Response »

Dec 132011

An early 1971 design from McDonnell Douglas for the Space Shuttle Phase B extension program. As an alternative to solid rocket boosters, this concept used a single liquid rocket booster underneath the external tank. Several concepts were studied, including pressure fed systems. This particular design used four F-1 rocket engines from the Saturn V, in an entirely new booster. The booster would be recovered at sea, splashing down nose first; large flaps would stabilize it nose-down during descent, and solid rocket motors would provide terminal deceleration.

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