#1
|
||||
|
||||
A new rocket to scratchbuild....
Another scratchbuilding possibility, the newly unveiled proposal for Liberty, a crew launch vehicle rising from the ashes of Ares I: ATK and Astrium Unveil the Liberty? Launch Vehicle Initiative for NASA's CCDev-2 Competition - Feb 8, 2011
Just take a bit of an Ares I, a bit of an Ariane 5, scratchbuild the LAS, and you're there.... |
Google Adsense |
#3
|
||||
|
||||
It is About Dollars!
Hi,
Well, actually solid is the best solution for cost, performance, reliability, and safety, for a booster in reality,......but getting over the stigma of the loss of the shuttle by SRB failure, seems like we will never get over it. As long as you put the passengers above the booster, the safety is equal or greater than liquid. The history of rocket launches show solids to be more reliable.....as long as your design is not flawed, fully tested, and no undermined by greed and cost cutting. Once you have a solid design they work! Yes, a fully reusable non profit, open source booster would be better, but in a for profit civilization it will never happen....unless we change. Ooooooo what a slippery slope issue.....juz leads to all kinds of juicy discussion material!
__________________
I am Ironcladman PS If you like ironclads checkout this site: http://www.theuniversalfoundation.com/ironclad.html |
#4
|
||||
|
||||
With the improvements made after the Challenger disaster, the RSRMs are now probably the single most reliable piece of STS hardware, and Americans have spent 30 years getting over their qualms about launching people with solid propellants. That said, the problem with using them in Ares I (and Liberty, I would think) is that there just isn't any growth potential.
|
#5
|
||||
|
||||
Interesting idea - all the pieces are there with a modification to the ARES I interstage. We're moving slowly to a production mentality (away from the everything's-an-experiment that has compromised the latest round of NASA programs). Love NASA's capability, but every time someone proposes an evolved launcher based on existing, proven hardware it disappears ... along with the investment and experience with the hardware.
Concur with SRM reliability - anytime you cut the parts count (tankage, pumps, etc.) it's an improvement. As far as growth, you just make a bundle of the sticks - see Delta heavy. Yogi |
Google Adsense |
#6
|
||||
|
||||
You can't use solid motors exclusively because they can't be throttled, stopped and restarted.
Other problems that I see with this design are 1) it looks too tall to fit in the Vehice Assembly Building and 2) the motors on the upper stage are designed to be ground started - air starting them may be doable but I wouldn't count on it.
__________________
X-ray-Delta-One, this is Mission Control, two-one-five-six, transmission concluded. |
#7
|
||||
|
||||
I don't think it's fair to simply state "SRB failure", the failure was more people related, the SRB was just the manifestation of poor decisions. Liquid fueled engines ARE really neat, but the are REALLY complicated too. Either way, I think it's important that we have a solid system to get us into orbit.
__________________
There is a single light of science, and to brighten it anywhere is to brighten it everywhere. Isaac Asimov |
#8
|
||||
|
||||
Quote:
__________________
There is a single light of science, and to brighten it anywhere is to brighten it everywhere. Isaac Asimov |
#9
|
||||
|
||||
A 2009 Probabilistic Risk Assessment overview for the shuttle program put the chances of an RSRM-caused failure leading to the loss of crew and vehicle as 1 in 1,530. In the range of potential problems, there were some that were bigger (an MMOD strike of the Orbiter on orbit had a 1 in 320 chance of happening) and there were some that were much smaller. For example, a common cause failure of the APU system on entry had a 1 in 13,000 chance of happening.
A press release from ATK said the vehicle would be 330 feet tall, which puts it in the same range as Ares I and shorter than the Saturn V, so it'd still fit in the VAB. |
#10
|
||||
|
||||
330 feet would fit nicely in the VAB. I guess I need to get my eyeballs recalibrated.
__________________
X-ray-Delta-One, this is Mission Control, two-one-five-six, transmission concluded. |
Google Adsense |
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|