tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37315767984408580362023-11-16T05:36:59.154-08:00CosmisteA sketch worth a thousand wordscosmistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09690078240031910160noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3731576798440858036.post-65752710634713909182014-12-18T12:41:00.000-08:002014-12-18T12:42:18.840-08:00Bravo ISRO !The maiden launch of the brand new GSLV Mark III was a great success this morning.<br />
This rocket is powered by two large Solid Rocket booster S200 that lift it in the air. About 2 minutes later, the center stage L110 is ignited and carry the laucher into space. The 2nd stage was just a dummy stage on that flight and will later rely on its cryogenic engine to give an orbital speed to the payload.<br />
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This 1st flight carried a mock up of future human capsule that splashed down in the India Ocean 20 minutes after lift off.<br />
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The rocket reminds me of a Titan IV that would have been thicker and shorter. It looks definitely massive and powerful.<br />
I built a full model of that rocket in Sketchup in order to draw exploded views and cutaways of that little beast.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieGpE3xYqrgFcbX__vAlJy91DzPwvV4HtecBc6y0y5jOAbbiAu-DW8lOWr0NjqBmVQX7PNelWwKOl3JXwijw2RhQcDXk-uqZRsMNn5zGv1VP3zlrnUZYTRtj7VnusU_ebYjosglFwau_s/s1600/GSLV+mk3+cutaway3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieGpE3xYqrgFcbX__vAlJy91DzPwvV4HtecBc6y0y5jOAbbiAu-DW8lOWr0NjqBmVQX7PNelWwKOl3JXwijw2RhQcDXk-uqZRsMNn5zGv1VP3zlrnUZYTRtj7VnusU_ebYjosglFwau_s/s1600/GSLV+mk3+cutaway3.jpg" height="348" width="640" /></a></div>
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GSLV mark III cutaway</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ7UEnUTWRK1icnKvVBP9IzKAl4gqIY_QR2DRfAPsgZZal-Pkbsq1CtevluaSEeF6tfCV7I8_Pr1aPVoul0fylpJL_tliazdQ5Rp4II3uXNfiQGNCB2NjZwUHK1bX6dhlNbjeGj_12tow/s1600/GSLV+mk3+exploded+view2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ7UEnUTWRK1icnKvVBP9IzKAl4gqIY_QR2DRfAPsgZZal-Pkbsq1CtevluaSEeF6tfCV7I8_Pr1aPVoul0fylpJL_tliazdQ5Rp4II3uXNfiQGNCB2NjZwUHK1bX6dhlNbjeGj_12tow/s1600/GSLV+mk3+exploded+view2.jpg" height="360" width="640" /></a></div>
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GSLV mark III exploded view</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiinvSZsT_ZrmNUURnTRsKRiFGQl0BZ7aoQVKMy6TdJ78w93C5FRMvNgKI2zmVxeG1ZxzUeMfg2ZfTIrDfgMMGfSfGQsQfQsj2eo-yyn_3TffIhonh_KesR1sBfA61lY_2oM0xuqcfcQ1g/s1600/GSLV+mk3+cutaway.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiinvSZsT_ZrmNUURnTRsKRiFGQl0BZ7aoQVKMy6TdJ78w93C5FRMvNgKI2zmVxeG1ZxzUeMfg2ZfTIrDfgMMGfSfGQsQfQsj2eo-yyn_3TffIhonh_KesR1sBfA61lY_2oM0xuqcfcQ1g/s1600/GSLV+mk3+cutaway.jpg" height="400" width="235" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNEcFmdUPKbKO6MgNNbzqvvlHU4uprv7aWjnZLsJ-Zq7GhTRhZFITKsx2Ucv2bY06RpeDH1IXFHqrTcLHkgDx3Z_O4esI1HEEPDJasPl_-EmrQ08I2KEefzwIrpVURogqDwNuwok5Ieuc/s1600/GSLV+mk3+exploded+view3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNEcFmdUPKbKO6MgNNbzqvvlHU4uprv7aWjnZLsJ-Zq7GhTRhZFITKsx2Ucv2bY06RpeDH1IXFHqrTcLHkgDx3Z_O4esI1HEEPDJasPl_-EmrQ08I2KEefzwIrpVURogqDwNuwok5Ieuc/s1600/GSLV+mk3+exploded+view3.jpg" height="400" width="191" /></a></div>
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GSLV mark III almost ready for lift off !</div>
<br />cosmistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09690078240031910160noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3731576798440858036.post-69731746898904831482014-11-28T12:30:00.000-08:002014-11-28T12:45:53.084-08:00SpaceX Unveils Autonomous Drone Ship<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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So SpaceX built a sea platform to land the spent 1st Stages of future Falcon 9.<br />
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<img border="0" height="411" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg90Tj6X-CXkcVvl4lFXu1SqonCqzyyrsybwWzHZKpxwet0RiVI7CvDdIj_f7jvPnsPpveJI6-pqLVQItx3OJne-Ih7U0JbppdO_uGjz_ZFktd7pyhFVTKziZdUSrl_joIdLIGxeqmLYk/s1600/spacex+barge5.png" width="640" /><br />
Elon musk leaked <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/536262624653365248">a picture of that barge</a> that looks like a small aircraft carrier seen from above.<br />
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But how big it is compared to the stage that will hover and hopefully safely land on it ?<br />
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Here are some screenshot of a model I made that put things in perspective. <br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_-wcp_xOPaS3SP4cj5gIzwQdu4VUobufhJHC9kBQutfQaUxaf1PlFsU_0bvfXib2_hUiziD_e7R1RmgXyiTd4wwfkzI8Vkq2QLg4NtLJKZgz4xIcp-74dIKosmQTzHfQWUJJJAuOwM_0/s1600/spacex+barge6.png"><img border="0" height="411" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_-wcp_xOPaS3SP4cj5gIzwQdu4VUobufhJHC9kBQutfQaUxaf1PlFsU_0bvfXib2_hUiziD_e7R1RmgXyiTd4wwfkzI8Vkq2QLg4NtLJKZgz4xIcp-74dIKosmQTzHfQWUJJJAuOwM_0/s1600/spacex+barge6.png" width="640" /></a><br />
With 65meters high the first stage is huge, so huge that the barge looks tiny and it will be a really challenge to aim at it and land the stage. <br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvNoiJAkhjNWdCObPF72oSXZunyjs5-DcRP52EW7Sq8ltKI_xLQPUkORdQxdXdsELa3-ov6ehHyFsSUBGDgf5sGvwznq1pF6y7qFMpwZ93uKDhezgA4gYDpS5T6xmet-k6vKc9-VvRuFY/s1600/spacex+barge7.png"><img border="0" height="411" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvNoiJAkhjNWdCObPF72oSXZunyjs5-DcRP52EW7Sq8ltKI_xLQPUkORdQxdXdsELa3-ov6ehHyFsSUBGDgf5sGvwznq1pF6y7qFMpwZ93uKDhezgA4gYDpS5T6xmet-k6vKc9-VvRuFY/s1600/spacex+barge7.png" width="640" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-IqqFnklkTXy1iqmVMtyhLLDDazrrHQImDMymMNSbsh1YcJI3jrsF-RPu6bbWs2-a58QWFtY2BYjSW8tRhMsskld5z66MKK8GhBcPTCoOIZcrYal4ICjIDiVbPru9toK8z-fLhjZvBRs/s1600/spacex+barge8.png"><img border="0" height="411" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-IqqFnklkTXy1iqmVMtyhLLDDazrrHQImDMymMNSbsh1YcJI3jrsF-RPu6bbWs2-a58QWFtY2BYjSW8tRhMsskld5z66MKK8GhBcPTCoOIZcrYal4ICjIDiVbPru9toK8z-fLhjZvBRs/s1600/spacex+barge8.png" width="640" /></a>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivawjmIz-T1yX0ukvXoT9ITjnnkWxYVl26lURaqrNtnfv1mEy-sK7H26hKW3-gvz5AU1WgG6WN76HF0t_Gt6RY94YdDA1UlzhbA9erj_4Ccoz0PALb8bFeE2US-l3QudVirM5R7uRwwRo/s1600/Ariane+1st+stage+below.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivawjmIz-T1yX0ukvXoT9ITjnnkWxYVl26lURaqrNtnfv1mEy-sK7H26hKW3-gvz5AU1WgG6WN76HF0t_Gt6RY94YdDA1UlzhbA9erj_4Ccoz0PALb8bFeE2US-l3QudVirM5R7uRwwRo/s1600/Ariane+1st+stage+below.jpg" height="428" width="640" /></a></div>
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<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span lang="EN-US">Fokker
was at that time the prime contractor for the Ariane interstages. The main parachutes were
made by Irvin in UK, while Autoflug, Germany, provided the drogue parachutes
and control box. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span lang="EN-US">Fokker
delivered the special interstage in mid 1982 and the parachute system added an
additional 850kg to the launch vehicle.The test was now scheduled to be part of
Ariane flight L07. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span lang="EN-US">Unfortunately,
in September 1982, the failure of Ariane 5th flight (L05) and loss of its first
commercial payload put the program on hold and impacted the launch manifest.
Flight L07 was now due to carry an Intelsat V, whose weight precluded carriage
of parachutes. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span lang="EN-US">The
parachute live test was first postponed to the 11th mission, due mid 1984. This
was changed again and the flight of the next Ariane 1 (V-14) was
picked instead. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br />
<h4>
At last</h4>
</div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span lang="EN-US">On July
2nd 1985, a recovery barge and a tugboat came all the way from Hamburg, Germany
to the recovery zone in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. At the</span> Kourou space center in French Guiana 350kms away, the Ariane 1 rocket rose up into the sky and 149 seconds after launch, the staging operation went as planned and the 1st stage started its free fall toward the recovery ships.</div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span lang="EN-US">However, the parachutes system did not
work out and the 1st stage crashed loudly into the sea. The recovery live test was a failure.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span lang="EN-US">That
evening, while cheering to the successful launch of the rocket’s payload, the probe
Giotto, ESA announced that a new recovery test will be planned asap.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span lang="EN-US">However,
a series of dramatic failures would soon stormed the western space industry
during the following months. Two Ariane flights would go wrong in September
1985 (V-15) and in May 1986 (V-18). The Space Shuttle would be grounded after
the Challenger disaster in Early 1986 and in April 1986, a Titan 34D would
destroyed its launch pad.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span lang="EN-US">Gaining
back launcher reliability was now more important than reducing costs for the
commercial launch market. So, the second recovery test was scrubbed as the
Ariane 4 development programme was winding-up for a maiden flight in 1988.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<h4>
<span lang="EN-US">References
:</span></h4>
</div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<br />
<ul>
<li>ESA
Bulletin nr 39 pp19 - Feb 1982 -</li>
<li>FLIGHT
International - 17 April 1982 - Fokker makes Ariane a parachute</li>
</ul>
</div>
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<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span lang="EN-US">Images
are my personal thought of what could have been the recovery scene. </span>Based
on New Scientist - 6 May 1982 - Down to earth rocket<o:p></o:p></div>
cosmistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09690078240031910160noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3731576798440858036.post-3434957973521827052014-01-30T13:03:00.000-08:002014-02-15T10:20:26.824-08:00Re-using Ariane’s first stage - The studyAs spaceX is working hard to routinely reuse its Falcon 9 rocket stages, one can remember that 30 years ago, Ariane 1 could have been the very first liquid rocket to have its 1st stage safely recovered and refurbished after every launches.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjSwRBZsTqjZx1MLezw0oeFrzMUfFQG8kHt4GvzMTpClvoOxh4r-3UWJH5zl1Xo2ToO41YWX2Ch-jhIzxuq48b81ivZnq5yvU4wM9oqr3JDWcxWZbPk3NrsTEE61hV2QxKJM3e3vEzq0I/s1600/Ariane+1st+stage+from+level.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjSwRBZsTqjZx1MLezw0oeFrzMUfFQG8kHt4GvzMTpClvoOxh4r-3UWJH5zl1Xo2ToO41YWX2Ch-jhIzxuq48b81ivZnq5yvU4wM9oqr3JDWcxWZbPk3NrsTEE61hV2QxKJM3e3vEzq0I/s1600/Ariane+1st+stage+from+level.jpg" height="360" width="640" /></a></div>
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From 1979 to 1981, CNES, the french space agency, and ESA made a deep study to use a set of parachutes in order to slow down the first stage's fall into the Atlantic Ocean.
Cutting cost on launch operation was seen as critical for Europe at that time. The Space Shuttle was about to make its first flight and this new spacecraft was to slash launch cost. The fear of ESA was that all commercial satellite operators would leave the Ariane order book in favor of the space shuttle one, leaving few governmental flight for the European rocket with pricey launches as a consequences.<br />
<h4>
<b><br /></b></h4>
<h4>
<b>Saving costs</b></h4>
Recovering the first stage is attractive from an economic point of view because it accounts for roughly 40 per cent of the cost of an Ariane rocket.
The propellant tanks of the stage are made of stainless steel. In 1982, the recovery of the wreckage of the ill-fated fifth flight (L05) showed that those tanks, although bumped, remained corrosion-free after a short stay in sea-water. It was then foreseen that they could be reuse after cleaning with fresh water and refurbished.<br />
<br />
The same principle would apply for other parts such as the engine turbopumps and the propulsion bay that might be re-use on later flights.
However, engineers foresaw a necessary replacement of the engine nozzles, because they would distort when their hot surface touched the sea.
Overall, the saving count indicated that an Ariane launch costs can be cut by roughly 10 to 15%.<br />
<h4>
</h4>
<h4>
Recovery plan</h4>
The conclusion of the 1981 studies pointed that a couple of critical phases had to be mastered for a successful recovery :<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>To point and slow down the stage to allow a gentle sea landing. The calculations indicated that a maximum speed of 12,5m/s was needed at landing in order to stay below structural strength of the empty stage and avoid any damages.</li>
<li>To find and lift that stage quickly enough to prevent any corrosion by seawater or damages from the waves. </li>
</ul>
ESA crafted a detailed recovery plan to overcome those critical phases.<br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Braking sequence</i><br />
The first stage of Ariane would separate at an altitude of about 53 km and a velocity of 2100 m/s (7500km/h). lt would continue its coasting flight up to an altitude of 87 km, after which it would fall back into the sea, some 340 kms from the launch site in the Atlantic ocean.
As the stage would go through thicker parts of the atmosphere, its speed would decrease and reach 160m/s (ca 600km/h) at 5000 m high. At this height, a mortar would fired two drogue parachutes. These would stabilise the stage and pull out an intermediate parachute of 12,5m diameter. This parachute would first half opened at 2m diameter and its purpose would be to stabilize the oscillations of the falling stage and to make sure it is pointing with the engine bay downward.<br />
<br />
The parachute would then fully open and further reduces the speed of the stage down to 70m/s (252 km/h).
At 2000m high, the final braking sequence would start with the deployment of four main parachutes of 20m diameter. They would slowly open and lift the stage so that it enters the sea at the required maximum 12,5 m/s speed.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibGbH0JYnQV6fdfMQZExqbev4K8UvJKvE3wEzsERiy3-ACzgjLtLI4SK7TTfUyJYgmJtuYdmP_YxcI1ogYpm_ukRLzt3kLYtMBG6a4osWxXFKF3-Y5-J83OdlOduSwHVP6sjYiSSXgwCM/s1600/Ariane+1st+stage+half+above.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibGbH0JYnQV6fdfMQZExqbev4K8UvJKvE3wEzsERiy3-ACzgjLtLI4SK7TTfUyJYgmJtuYdmP_YxcI1ogYpm_ukRLzt3kLYtMBG6a4osWxXFKF3-Y5-J83OdlOduSwHVP6sjYiSSXgwCM/s1600/Ariane+1st+stage+half+above.jpg" height="360" width="640" /></a></div>
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Once in the water, calculations show that the buoyancy of the stage would keep it near vertical with a maximum 5° tilting angle.<br />
However, In some cases, the tank pressure could go down to as low as 0,9 bars and cause damages to the structural integrity of the stage, so it might be necessary to repressurise the tanks in order to ensure that the stage remains afloat after impact. A pressurization system was yet to be defined but could either be part of the rocket or provided by the recovery team at sea level.<br />
<br />
<i>Recovery sequence</i><br />
The recovery ship would track optically the stage as it descends. Four radio beacons fitted in the front interstage will also ease the localization of the booster when floating at sea.
As soon as the stage is in view, a tug boat would bring a dedicated recovery barge toward the impact zone.
The barge would include a floating sledge nicknamed “the spoon” specially designed to recover the floating stage.<br />
<br />
On site, the recovery crew would first secured the stage by checking it for any propellant leaks (Nitrogen tetroxide and UH 25 are highly toxic and should be carefully vented before any human activities) and disabling the flight termination system to prevent any explosion during operations.
Divers would then release the spent parachutes and tilt the stage near horizontal with the help of buoyancy bags. The recovery sledge would be positioned under the stage and both would be strongly tied together.
Next, a winch would tow the sledge safely onto the barge through a dedicated ramp. At last, the sledge would be safely tied to the barge for the journey back to Cayenne harbour, French Guiana.
<br />
<br />
<i>Reusability</i><br />
Once at land, the recovered stage would be carefully cleaned with fresh water and a neutralising agent would be sprayed onto it. The main components would be disassembled and dried. A first assessment would be done before transporting the parts back to the manufacturing plants scattered in Europe.
There, deep analysis will be performed and the parts in good shape will go through the normal validation process before being assembled again on a new stage.<br />
<br />
- To be continued -<br />
<br />
<h4>
References : </h4>
<ul>
<li>ESA bulletin nr 25 pp33 - Feb 1981</li>
<li>ESA Bulletin nr 39 pp19 - Feb 1982</li>
<li>FLIGHT International - 17 April 1982 - Fokker makes Ariane a parachute </li>
</ul>
<br />
<br />
Images are my personal thought of what could have been the recovery scene. Inspired from New Scientist - 6 May 1982 - Down to earth rocket
cosmistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09690078240031910160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3731576798440858036.post-81970885163740501072013-12-25T11:32:00.000-08:002014-02-01T08:51:39.071-08:00Solaris - A manufacturing plant in orbit<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: start;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17.46875px;">In 1981, CNES, the french space agency, envisionned </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 17.46875px;">an "automatic" space station dubbed SOLARIS.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 17.46875px;">The basic idea was to have a manufacturing plant in orbit to produce advanced material and pharmaceutical products in microgravity that can be brought down through unmanned capsules.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 17.46875px;">I guess the project was scrubbed when the orbital produced materials turned out to be not so promising after some experiments done in SpaceLab from 1983.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6zWqz4npycdGwNu4S7LH6h97pv-_STZMixuNkWIKzxj10zGUpAbP5UgnWDmB97C0-27ewR69o8jkdNIXewiOHTjKchbjeU8ElAJTpPTx74yrbPA08H10pU56YjgHf00-_RllAPEYc0nY/s1600/1981_solaris_automatic+station.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6zWqz4npycdGwNu4S7LH6h97pv-_STZMixuNkWIKzxj10zGUpAbP5UgnWDmB97C0-27ewR69o8jkdNIXewiOHTjKchbjeU8ElAJTpPTx74yrbPA08H10pU56YjgHf00-_RllAPEYc0nY/s640/1981_solaris_automatic+station.jpg" height="640" width="475" /></a></div>
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cosmistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09690078240031910160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3731576798440858036.post-3217270333796536672013-03-24T05:49:00.000-07:002013-03-24T05:49:11.695-07:00Hermes at liftoff - 1979 ArtworkA beautiful artwork of Hermes on the launchpad taken from a October 1979 magazine .<br />
The variant of the spaceplane depicted here is the <a href="http://cosmiste.blogspot.fr/2012/11/hermes-spacecraft-1979-early-draft.html" target="_blank">original version</a> presented by CNES at the Paris Airshow the previous spring.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdg4vnzV7-RQRdktN-5gNIiOF0rrq4Rqc4mC1MWizW8NPUOQ3RbYcKLvdlXvRSAkKMD0l-sQvZDSVRGtyM4b6NKDndxnFfkmVlMBHOvaB2y2H9K_SlzK6ZX1CE0vY4VAenQiVtMbUbbuM/s1600/79+sc+et+vie+cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdg4vnzV7-RQRdktN-5gNIiOF0rrq4Rqc4mC1MWizW8NPUOQ3RbYcKLvdlXvRSAkKMD0l-sQvZDSVRGtyM4b6NKDndxnFfkmVlMBHOvaB2y2H9K_SlzK6ZX1CE0vY4VAenQiVtMbUbbuM/s640/79+sc+et+vie+cover.jpg" width="450" /></a></div>
<br />
Interestingly, the launch vehicle envisioned is an
Ariane 1. The maiden flight of that rocket was just 2 months after the
issue of the magazine and this may have influenced the artist.<br />
However,
in no way an Ariane 1 would have been able to throw Hermes in orbit.
The first operational rocket of ESA was designed to deliver payloads in
GTO (1 800kgs) not to LEO. But even with a reduced 3rd stage, the
booster capability would have never fit with the 10 tons mass of Hermes.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
Instead, CNES planned to use an uprated version of
Ariane 4, dubbed "Ariane 5" with an enlarged 2nd stage. That rocket
would have been very different from the Ariane 5 that will eventually be
built and fly 15 years later.<br />
<br />
Source : Science et Vie #745, October 1979<br />
<br />cosmistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09690078240031910160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3731576798440858036.post-86426416506196085942013-01-27T06:37:00.003-08:002013-01-27T06:39:12.514-08:00Space settlementsA vintage space art from the mid seventies. The dream at that time was to build huge space colonies.<br />
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I love the psychedelic colors of the original scan so I restored it by removing some scratches, the text and balancing the colors.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUKZuqwoPR2EfGo54Xi5Jy7scVKysyxlLuPDQdrgiKMt7RnL_H_CnIcM6eTJcK4oO-0i_heN4DilZ5WpELVKJmgxB8BH9pggZ2yhqHRArV1AFgFDS7c98oAVcRJiF0PNgDfcITxKW368c/s1600/SP-413_Space_Settlements_-_A_Design_Study-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUKZuqwoPR2EfGo54Xi5Jy7scVKysyxlLuPDQdrgiKMt7RnL_H_CnIcM6eTJcK4oO-0i_heN4DilZ5WpELVKJmgxB8BH9pggZ2yhqHRArV1AFgFDS7c98oAVcRJiF0PNgDfcITxKW368c/s640/SP-413_Space_Settlements_-_A_Design_Study-1.jpg" width="492" /></a></div>
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<br />
Source : <a href="http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19770014162_1977014162.pdf" target="_blank">Space Settlements</a>: A Design Study (NASA 1975)cosmistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09690078240031910160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3731576798440858036.post-10775998881696092122012-11-04T07:43:00.002-08:002012-11-04T07:43:47.698-08:00Hermes spacecraft - 1979 early draft<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFJjA2txKXB0DbzUdsvihS81S6L-E8KqCzGQvwTLFa4spG77U4RyhD_92NP_iXYnm8JnMpl6CuTx42F6Blpf5O3C91oOPe-YnVHlRNtR-U52wVHbDkFcNiItFaD8V4BPDWjqAM5gVZoHg/s1600/1979+single+tail+2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="362" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFJjA2txKXB0DbzUdsvihS81S6L-E8KqCzGQvwTLFa4spG77U4RyhD_92NP_iXYnm8JnMpl6CuTx42F6Blpf5O3C91oOPe-YnVHlRNtR-U52wVHbDkFcNiItFaD8V4BPDWjqAM5gVZoHg/s640/1979+single+tail+2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
I think that the Hermes program, that runs from 1977 to 1993, is one of the longest, most passionate and eventually the most frustrated development of a spacecraft ever started.</div>
<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
There was a lot of hiccups all over this project.<br />
Some technical issues first, that added some weight constantly over the time. It gave challenges to both the airframe and the booster.<br />
Some political fights then between the main fund-raisers of ESA the European space agency in charge of Hermes. The British, the French and the German strongly disagree on the direction to go.<br />
And last, some financial issue that put a stop to the work when the budget over exceeded all initial forecasts and the fundraisers decided to close their wallets.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb40pQQYBU0ZPzbcEGTWvoR0qYsu4Xeasw9pefOai16Jy54BZu5RZJn9lcYZIxqMXhPrD24g_nl47pdPAaeE_INDujqK0FlsnKOCs0WZeN6JkqmUf2lkoVgOE3e4R7z3xN8eowCC67h5g/s1600/1979+single+tail+24.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb40pQQYBU0ZPzbcEGTWvoR0qYsu4Xeasw9pefOai16Jy54BZu5RZJn9lcYZIxqMXhPrD24g_nl47pdPAaeE_INDujqK0FlsnKOCs0WZeN6JkqmUf2lkoVgOE3e4R7z3xN8eowCC67h5g/s640/1979+single+tail+24.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
But let's go back to 1977.<br />
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<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
That year while the space shuttle Enterprise underwent its first free atmospheric test flight, CNES, the French space agency initiated a pre-study of a tiny space plane that could carry European astronauts into orbit.</div>
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The plane was to be launched atop an Ariane rocket à la Dyansoar/Titan booster. But while the Ariane 1 was at that time in its final development stage (its maiden flight was in 1979) CNES envisionned a much more powerful launcher variant, the Ariane 5/H, to lift off Hermes.<br />
<br />
In 1979, CNES presented a set of blueprints and artist rendering to the press.<br />
The plane was 12,5 meters long with a wingspan of 8 meters and weighted 10 tons. It could carry 5 astronauts or 2 astronauts and a 1,5 tons payload. While much smaller it had a similar double delta wing shape as use on the US space shuttle.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh49A-r5sSWkMfxH5kOs1AdEY1zzphZHGBc89iwNwh7i3zLOK9TNBWSStf54FadlhoBrSJCQ5QT_SQ8MwCyPzToOWsX5uNufOpEoAJdA95SFx0O8ILo_2t3mOhpuVbSYwApAoiMy8Yger0/s1600/1979+single+tail+21.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh49A-r5sSWkMfxH5kOs1AdEY1zzphZHGBc89iwNwh7i3zLOK9TNBWSStf54FadlhoBrSJCQ5QT_SQ8MwCyPzToOWsX5uNufOpEoAJdA95SFx0O8ILo_2t3mOhpuVbSYwApAoiMy8Yger0/s640/1979+single+tail+21.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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I based my CAD modelling on this 1979 material and tried to imagine what would be that small bird into orbit.<br />
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<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<b>References :</b></div>
<ul style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<li>CapcomEspace (French) - Didier Capdevilla : <a href="http://www.capcomespace.net/dossiers/espace_europeen/hermes/" target="_blank">capcomespace.net/dossiers/espace_europeen/hermes/</a></li>
<li>Flight International 1979 - <a href="http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1979/1979%20-%204484.html" target="_blank">flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/</a></li>
<li>Science et Vie Nr 745 - October 1979 pp113-117.</li>
<li>Europe's Space Programme: To Ariane and Beyond - Brian harvey - 2003- <a href="http://books.google.fr/books?id=kYZBLzW7r4cC&lpg=PA305&dq=hermes%20europe%20beyond&pg=PA297#v=onepage&q&f=false" target="_blank">books.google.fr/</a> </li>
<li>Credit background earth images : NASA </li>
</ul>
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</ul>
cosmistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09690078240031910160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3731576798440858036.post-49816687672239500812012-09-17T12:47:00.000-07:002012-09-17T12:48:41.923-07:00JAXA Super Sensitive camera : Real time night video from the ISSI am fascinated by time lapse videos of earth at night shot from the
ISS. Several of these videos were made and uploaded on streaming sites
in the past months and they precisely depict earth in all its beauty :
city lights flybys, dancing auroras and lightings that are striking the
dark ground of continents and oceans.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/FG0fTKAqZ5g?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<br />
But
all of these movies are not based on videos footage. Instead, they were
patiently built by artists by stacking thousands of long exposure
pictures made by the ISS astronauts using Nikon digital cameras. The
Nikon cameras are usually bracket mounted in the ISS cupola to keep a
stable framing. An automatic remote control system is then plugged to
the camera in order to take continuous long exposure of around 2s during
a flyby of earth at night that the ISS will cover in about 40 minutes.<br />
The
artists have then to manually stitched the photos (most of time after a
despeckling/ denoising operation that will improve the quality of each
pics).<br />
<br />
The main issue with the use of video camcorder
to record at night from the ISS is the same as you will have shooting
the sea from a cliff on a moonless night : Very low light condition and
no way to use projectors to better render the scene.<br />
But what
about building a dedicated video camera that push the sensitivity border
enough to film in the dark and make possible to get real time videos of
earth at night ?<br />
<br />
That is what JAXA the Japanese space
agency made with the help of NHK broadcasting company. They built the
SS-HDTV, the super sensitive HDTV video camera and flew it to space.<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRARgeNLUVfPtUsDe2DNl8sMuE4tUuGIzjJKYYfPSKDwYOclttakPvA0a3avuuGgmFX-vie34k70xBLgcXmtXFRG3HYdLfxWUO4Hf4iuJeIIlXU5-fwkr9mFuP4Crv9cPJREYzkrBECbg/s1600/ss-hdtv-no+caption.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRARgeNLUVfPtUsDe2DNl8sMuE4tUuGIzjJKYYfPSKDwYOclttakPvA0a3avuuGgmFX-vie34k70xBLgcXmtXFRG3HYdLfxWUO4Hf4iuJeIIlXU5-fwkr9mFuP4Crv9cPJREYzkrBECbg/s400/ss-hdtv-no+caption.jpg" width="400" /> </a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">JAXA SS-HDTV</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">1 : Lens (shown here is a Fujinon HA18x7.6ERM/ERD lens), 2 : Camera body, 3 : LCD screen, 4 : SD card recorder</span></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">(credit : JAXA)</span></i></div>
<br />
The
camera was delivered to the ISS by the Progress M-10M on 29 April 2011
and transferred to the Kibo module. It then waited for its operator,
the japanese astronaut Satoshi Furukawa who boarded the station in June
2011.<br />
Within the next 2 months, Satoshi prepared and set up the
camera. He then transmitted videos during a period that culminated with a
four-segment live TV show in September 2011.<br />
<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/bLFOcoMRyUo?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Satoshi Furukawa recorded lightning, auroras and the islands of Japan at night with the SS-HDTV</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>(credit : JAXA/NHK)</i> </span></div>
</div>
<br />
The
camera is built around a 2/3" EM-CCD sensor, EM stands for Electron
multiplyer. This CCD technology is quite new and its main advantage is
to deliver a very good signal to noise ratio as well as low light
capabilities. Therefore, EM-CCDs cameras find growing use in astronomy
and scientific application where light become scarce.<br />
Thanks to its sensor, the SS-HDTV can work with a minimum illumination of 0,05 lux.<br />
<br />
Surrounding
the sensor is a thoughened body that give protection from the solar
radiation level that is higher in the ISS than on ground level. On one
side of the body is a liveview LCD monitor, on the other is a SD card
reader that records the video sequences on 32GB interchangeable SD
cards. <br />
An interchangeable lens is used to focus the image. A set of 5 lenses is available in the ISS :<br />
Four fixed focal lens : 4,8mm, 8mm, 17mm, 25mm and one zoom lens : 7,6 ~ 137mm 16X.<br />
<br />
The
video sequences are encoded using the MPC (Multi-Protocol Converter) at
27Mbit/s before downlinking it to earth through the Ku-band data flow
of the station. The MPC, developped by NASA, ESA and JAXA is used to
compress HD video stream and therefore limit the use of bandwidth. This
operation is achieved either in real time or by processing <br />
<br />
The camera was extinsively used by Satoshi until October 2011. No activity is reported in the ISS status since this time.<br />
<br />
<br />
<u><i>References</i></u> :<br />
<ul>
<li>User manual module “Kibo” - July 2011 - <a href="http://idb.exst.jaxa.jp/">http://idb.exst.jaxa.jp</a> </li>
<li>Super-Sensitive High Definition TV (SS-HDTV) NASA Factsheets : <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/SS-HDTV.html">http://www.nasa.gov/</a></li>
</ul>
<br />
<ul>
</ul>
cosmistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09690078240031910160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3731576798440858036.post-3210203019922139142012-07-17T12:36:00.000-07:002014-02-01T08:46:36.778-08:00multi role recovery capsule - 3 side view<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTaU6rXqeSxrXFzEEQ2TeXyqns8bjoxmlwCKTEwwAVlIe4Y2YE2seIUte-paC6651XKmxWNDIa3NBUkBDQZbSvtsaxfF6DaNmbnwsrucdPoLf1Zdp2M_T97kWoT2OYbijO1WbJG39XoA0/s1600/MRRC+3views.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTaU6rXqeSxrXFzEEQ2TeXyqns8bjoxmlwCKTEwwAVlIe4Y2YE2seIUte-paC6651XKmxWNDIa3NBUkBDQZbSvtsaxfF6DaNmbnwsrucdPoLf1Zdp2M_T97kWoT2OYbijO1WbJG39XoA0/s400/MRRC+3views.jpg" height="496" width="640" /></a></div>
Here is a composite 3 views of the model in order to depict the overall shape of the capsule.<br />
<ul>
<li>The front part hosts a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_berthing_mechanism" target="_blank">Common Berthing Mechanism</a>. It includes a large hatch of 127 cms wide that would have allow astronauts to carry large piece cargo to the Freedom station.</li>
<li>Beside the hatch, on each side of the capsule are located 2 RCS units in order to steer the spacecraft to and back from the station.</li>
<li>The bold red line is the edge of the reentry heatshield that ends the Command Module. </li>
<li>The back side of the ship is the service module. It protects the heatshield upto the reentry sequence, durig launch and maneuvers in orbit. But its main purpose in space is to hosts both the electrical production through solar panel and the telecommunication equipment to send data, voice and video back to earth or through relay satellites. </li>
</ul>
Related topic on cosmiste.com :<br />
<ul>
<li><a href="http://cosmiste.blogspot.fr/2012/05/british-aerospace-multi-role-recovery.html">British Aerospace - Multi role recovery Capsule - 1987</a></li>
</ul>
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<br />cosmistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09690078240031910160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3731576798440858036.post-56458403362405314162012-06-09T10:49:00.001-07:002012-06-14T09:27:16.182-07:00Most expensive Camera shelf ever<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjky-iJWeCByUMOkg7rCYCrFCCfM6x9C0hKmM8mDvROyBGcEg_el0xTJlT9ZA8qp85KNosCDmRjreKx1fP1GRqgkhKpZexjuHSuB0bCckeKD6R830TnUbFM4WD9aR2EHWzX-CeU2NNdjxU/s1600/1337160702.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjky-iJWeCByUMOkg7rCYCrFCCfM6x9C0hKmM8mDvROyBGcEg_el0xTJlT9ZA8qp85KNosCDmRjreKx1fP1GRqgkhKpZexjuHSuB0bCckeKD6R830TnUbFM4WD9aR2EHWzX-CeU2NNdjxU/s640/1337160702.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
ISS crew has the great chance to use top of the line Nikon cameras. Here is a view of some of the gears available in the space station.<br />
Some D2s and D3s are waiting to be used and are stored on their articulated monopods in the ISS cupola.<br />
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When you consider that each camera has a price tag of roughly 5000$ and the ISS cost is <a href="http://www.space.com/9435-international-space-station-worth-100-billion.html" target="_blank">said to be above 100 bn$</a>, one can say that either the station is the most expensive place to hold Nikons or these cameras are most probably the cheapest pieces of hardware flying around the earth...<br />
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Credit : <a href="http://www.roscosmos.ru/main.php?id=403" target="_blank">roscosmos.ru</a>cosmistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09690078240031910160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3731576798440858036.post-67221192661970420542012-05-13T11:02:00.000-07:002012-06-14T09:34:40.610-07:00British Aerospace - Multi role recovery Capsule - 1987<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqcDZ2Yrn3YcD637XGKshNH75FltHRlYIepOefdi-6eUr20mIS39aZy93HYjTw7MsI2nZU6L5smtHhVzOWvdxzhfucoQqvHcz-ium8uKxmw-Q0C7m4DDdqWl7f7Q3zw-Kcd82685VmgGY/s1600/MRRC2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="352" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqcDZ2Yrn3YcD637XGKshNH75FltHRlYIepOefdi-6eUr20mIS39aZy93HYjTw7MsI2nZU6L5smtHhVzOWvdxzhfucoQqvHcz-ium8uKxmw-Q0C7m4DDdqWl7f7Q3zw-Kcd82685VmgGY/s640/MRRC2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">In the mid eighties, ESA was to choose a project to give Europe a manned access to space. While the French were pushing to develop the Hermes spaceplane </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">further</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">, the British unveiled a much simpler alternative : The multi-role recovery capsule (MRRC).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">British Aerospace made a pre-study for a 7 tons capsule that could carry 4 to 6 persons in orbit. The existing Ariane 4 rocket or some US rockets could be used as the launcher after being man-rated. In BAe’s plan, besides providing Europe with a man access to space, the capsule was envisioned to be also used as a lifeboat for the therefore planned US space station.
Unfortunately, despite its versatility, the capsule was dropped by the ESA at the end of 1987 in favor of the ambitious Hermes spaceplane. However, several years later, the Hermes spaceplane will also be cancelled.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I found little information about this project. So I build the 3D model from this single artwork depicting the capsule. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1folHJrR7wxEu7Sl17tofb7e9o8fJz18UR-jPr77yBrX7ZDXUfHk7O1hx8WM327DJlh0GQMKvHYcMmXq0Gy6fzNFOhDqeswawsGZh7hmTC7GTwoyvlpH0xyo7HTBrSqeq5RwhvzPnZv4/s1600/MRRC.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1folHJrR7wxEu7Sl17tofb7e9o8fJz18UR-jPr77yBrX7ZDXUfHk7O1hx8WM327DJlh0GQMKvHYcMmXq0Gy6fzNFOhDqeswawsGZh7hmTC7GTwoyvlpH0xyo7HTBrSqeq5RwhvzPnZv4/s320/MRRC.gif" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The capsule includes a Command Module with most probably a Common Berthing Mechanism to dock with the space station Freedom and some RCS thrusters on the top part. Windows and hatch are </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">on the side</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">. On the back is a disposable service module with its solar panel array and the communication antenna. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><i>References :</i><br />
<ol>
<li>Marcus Lindroos - Astronautix - <a href="http://www.astronautix.com/craft/mulpsule.htm">http://www.astronautix.com</a></li>
<li>BAe proposes manned capsule - FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL, 24 October 1987 - <a href="http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1987/1987%20-%202182.html">http://flightglobal.com
</a></li>
</ol>cosmistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09690078240031910160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3731576798440858036.post-29398090663412747432012-05-13T10:30:00.000-07:002012-06-14T09:41:59.461-07:00Aerospatiale STS-2000<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg3MwjclGBEksC54IszsR4pzNPsE2hYRuRmqMdO4a35RER58WLWUKlcdlSAU24XmjBHg6ftsyZuHWQ65VFtb7xA94BbOmxJR2haxuLBKLgJWDomg-KhcoKhxSKqur9xqZ_0uOueS358n4/s1600/sts-2000-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="361" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg3MwjclGBEksC54IszsR4pzNPsE2hYRuRmqMdO4a35RER58WLWUKlcdlSAU24XmjBHg6ftsyZuHWQ65VFtb7xA94BbOmxJR2haxuLBKLgJWDomg-KhcoKhxSKqur9xqZ_0uOueS358n4/s640/sts-2000-2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Back in the 80s, the future of space exploration seemed to lie in Single Stage to Orbit vehicles. Every design team around the world was working on various reusable spaceplanes in order to achieve SSTO and reach the ultimate dream : get a cheap, reliable and common way to access low earth orbit.
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Aerospatiale, a french company that will later merged into EADS, came up with an elegant spaceplane concept study. Known as the Space Transportation System of years 2000 (STS-2000), it included a combination of air-breathing and rocket engines and was able to deliver 7 tons in orbit. The SSTO 73 meters long plane weighted 338 tons when taking-off horizontally.
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I made a 3D model of the plane and pasted it over a high altitude pics of the earth.<br />
Below is an original artwork of the plan. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6ZCFPIGd2vZaNVF-kefnnm4282fXnrNQV6QUy2eP9fEnheytH0XPOI_eEockQl2WFi34giDJ6cA0J5d_ky0NFPgq6Z-1Keu5R8_arndQK6vyX1BgZ46WT30Lxe5W1-KMhChwcYJ6Q8Sc/s1600/SSTO+STS-2000.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="207" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6ZCFPIGd2vZaNVF-kefnnm4282fXnrNQV6QUy2eP9fEnheytH0XPOI_eEockQl2WFi34giDJ6cA0J5d_ky0NFPgq6Z-1Keu5R8_arndQK6vyX1BgZ46WT30Lxe5W1-KMhChwcYJ6Q8Sc/s320/SSTO+STS-2000.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i>References :
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<ol>
<li>STS-2000 SSTO - <a href="http://www.astronautix.com/lvs/sts0ssto.htm">Astronautix.com</a>
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<li>DESMA - Défi Aérospatial Etudiant 2011 - <a href="http://www.studentaerospacechallenge.eu/site/popup/2010_2011/PrixEADSWP4motorisationENSMA.pdf">http://www.studentaerospacechallenge.eu</a>
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<li>Aerospaceplane technology - GAO - July 1991 - pp39 - <a href="http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA241102">http://www.dtic.mil</a></li>
<li>Earth background credit = <a href="http://space.1337arts.com/" target="_blank">http://space.1337arts.com/</a><br />
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</ol>
<br />cosmistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09690078240031910160noreply@blogger.com0