#1
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Collier’s Ferry Rocket (1952)
I don’t know if it is the right place, here. Indeed the subject could seem fictional, but in realty it’s at the roots of the modern spaceflight.
When I was looking for documentation about my project TWA Moonliner, I was fascinated by the story I found here ( The Great 1952 Space Program That Almost Was ) In short, a group of experts was gathered for describe a way to conquer the space soon. The project started from the concern about the military use of the space, but it was focused on the peaceful use of the space to reach the terrestrial orbit, the moon and mars. This could be an interesting science fiction tale, but the interesting part of the project was that they would like to define a way to go to space, Moon and Mars with the available technological knowledge at that moment. Von Braun was involved, and he said: “Speculations regarding the future technical developments have been carefully avoided. While the [Collier’s] designs may be a far cry from what Mars ships some thirty or forty years from now will actually look like, this approach will serve a worthwhile purpose. If we can show how a Mars ship could conceivably be built on the basis of what we know now, we can safely deduce that actual designs of the future can only be superior. Only by stubborn adherence to the engineering solutions based exclusively on scientific knowledge available today, and by strict avoidance of any speculations concerning future discoveries, can we bring proof that this fabulous venture is fundamentally feasible.” The excerpts of the symposium were published between March 22, 1952 through April 30, 1954 by the monthly magazine Collier’s, and today are available here. I was ever fascinated by the illustrations of Chesley Bonestell and Rolf Klep, in particular the Ferry Rocket depicted by Klep, that was also the first step needed for conquer the space. Here some illustrations: Space age poster (http://www.projectrho.com/public_htm...osterLarge.jpg ) Assembly of Three-stage Space Vehicle by Rolf Klep ( https://goo.gl/images/rYGJyX ) Von Braun and Ferry Rocket ( http://www.projectrho.com/public_htm.../VonBraun2.jpg ) The Ferry Rocket ( http://www.projectrho.com/public_htm.../VonBraun1.jpg ) In the Jonathan Leslie site there is a model of the third stage (the “shuttle”), but I would like to build the entire stack. So I decided to design my own model after I found here some good drawing of it.
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My builds Last Udon's LM @ 1/96;Collier’s Ferry Rocket (1952);Gundam Sinanju MS-06S Current Apollo CM 1-24 Fat Man & Little Boy available here |
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#2
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I choose the 1/300 scale, for the concern about the home space, and first I had to decide how to design the pattern of the engines on the first and second stage, and some other detail such the thickness (i like to use 160gsm paper ). Here an example of the excel sheet that I usually use for this purpose.
Here the first rough attempt to depict the first stage with the 51 engines. More work on the stage The first unfold Building the first prototype More to come Best, Nando
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My builds Last Udon's LM @ 1/96;Collier’s Ferry Rocket (1952);Gundam Sinanju MS-06S Current Apollo CM 1-24 Fat Man & Little Boy available here |
#3
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Reminds me of all those "Wonderful World of Disney" episodes I saw as a kid... I look forward to your build...
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#4
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I did the Disney version a few years ago. It is available in the download section, both in 1/72nd and 1/33rd scales. http://www.papermodelers.com/forum/v...?categoryid=30
Enjoy, Mike |
#5
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Quote:
Quote:
The relation between the rocket I’m modeling and the rockets of the Disney’s era are well illustrated in this page ( https://history.msfc.nasa.gov/vonbra...y_article.html ). Here you can read that both were the mean that Von Braun intended to use for push forward the space conquest in the American opinion. But Collier’s was a monthly magazine, while the Disney programs were on TV with much more diffusion and impact combined with the magic aura of the Disney art.
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My builds Last Udon's LM @ 1/96;Collier’s Ferry Rocket (1952);Gundam Sinanju MS-06S Current Apollo CM 1-24 Fat Man & Little Boy available here |
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#6
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Back to the model.
Here the second chapter: second stage and the base (an early version of the MLP). To be continued. Best, Nando
__________________
My builds Last Udon's LM @ 1/96;Collier’s Ferry Rocket (1952);Gundam Sinanju MS-06S Current Apollo CM 1-24 Fat Man & Little Boy available here |
#7
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Someone reported me that some link in some browser doesn’t work, so here the two pictures
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My builds Last Udon's LM @ 1/96;Collier’s Ferry Rocket (1952);Gundam Sinanju MS-06S Current Apollo CM 1-24 Fat Man & Little Boy available here |
#8
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Nando, it's really awesome you are designing this model. However nice the Disney version looks, the Collier version is THE ferry rocket. I am following this thread with great interest.
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#9
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Thanks Paper Kosmonaut, for your interest and I hope to respect your expectations. I agree with you about which is the TRUE Ferry Rocket and this is the main reason I choose this subject.
The next step is the third stage: the reusable one, the first concept of a shuttle. About reusability, also the first and second stage should have been recoverable using a sort of metallic parachute. Here some picture of the design process. Just a note: It seems that I’m proceeding fast, very fast, with the designing and prototyping phase of this project, but it is a false impression. This project started long time ago, and with my sluggish rhythm I did some work slowly, very slowly. Now, when I can say to my self that the project surmounted the feasibility phase, I’d like to share the last steps. Stay tuned. Best, Nando
__________________
My builds Last Udon's LM @ 1/96;Collier’s Ferry Rocket (1952);Gundam Sinanju MS-06S Current Apollo CM 1-24 Fat Man & Little Boy available here |
#10
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There is a nice rendition of a Ferry rocket launch here at wired. Including more about these mesh braking parachutes.
About then years ago there was an Australian filmmaker called David Sander who was working on an ever expanding project to make a mockumentary about NASA in the 50s and 60s in a what -if kind of setting, using these ferry rockets and landing on Mars in 1969 (after they already have landed on the moon in 1963). It was called "Man Conquers Space". He was pretty far and the footage looked amazing but suddenly he went offline with his project site and went silent. A real pity. There still is some stuff left on Youtube, hosted by others: here and here. The most recent one, here, shows how his project got a much broader context. Perhaps that is why he abandoned it in the end. Or maybe not. |
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