Author Topic: Indentification needed of picture taken at Huntsville  (Read 5277 times)

Offline Hoonte

  • Regular
  • Full Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 481
  • Liked: 21
  • Likes Given: 7
I've stumbled across this picture at paronamio taken by somebody at Huntsville. Can anyone tell me what I'm look at

http://www.panoramio.com/photo/2690512
« Last Edit: 12/10/2008 06:53 pm by Hoonte »
Drogues populaires www.viagrasansordonnancefr.com toxicose du medicament

Offline Jim

  • Night Gator
  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 37440
  • Cape Canaveral Spaceport
  • Liked: 21450
  • Likes Given: 428
Re: Indentification needed of picture taken at Huntsville
« Reply #1 on: 12/10/2008 07:03 pm »
I've stumbled across this picture at paronamio taken by somebody at Huntsville. Can anyone tell me what I'm look at

http://www.panoramio.com/photo/2690512

A mockup of the Shuttle Centaur G' w/ASE
« Last Edit: 12/10/2008 07:03 pm by Jim »

Online DaveS

  • Shuttle program observer
  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 8526
  • Sweden
  • Liked: 1199
  • Likes Given: 65
Re: Indentification needed of picture taken at Huntsville
« Reply #2 on: 12/10/2008 07:04 pm »
A Centaur G-PRIME. Was to be used to launch Ulysses and Galileo but the Challenger accident put a stop to those plans.
"For Sardines, space is no problem!"
-1996 Astronaut class slogan

"We're rolling in the wrong direction but for the right reasons"
-USA engineer about the rollback of Discovery prior to the STS-114 Return To Flight mission

Offline edkyle99

  • Expert
  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 15391
    • Space Launch Report
  • Liked: 8566
  • Likes Given: 1356
Re: Indentification needed of picture taken at Huntsville
« Reply #3 on: 12/11/2008 05:03 am »
I've stumbled across this picture at paronamio taken by somebody at Huntsville. Can anyone tell me what I'm look at

http://www.panoramio.com/photo/2690512

A mockup of the Shuttle Centaur G' w/ASE

Are you sure it is a mockup?  It looks real, close up, and I've seen it a few times.  The shuttle Centaurs (SC-1 and SC-2) were built and being tested at the Cape and at KSC when the program was stopped.  SC-1 was mated to Galileo in the VPF at one point after the 51L failure.  I suspected that this stage on display may have been one of the shuttle Centaurs. 

Whatever it is, it is, like most of the other space hardware at Huntsville, rapidly decaying.

 - Ed Kyle
« Last Edit: 12/11/2008 07:30 pm by edkyle99 »

Offline Art LeBrun

  • Photo freak
  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 2128
  • Orange, California
  • Liked: 35
  • Likes Given: 0
Re: Indentification needed of picture taken at Huntsville
« Reply #4 on: 12/11/2008 06:37 am »
I am curious as to how the Centaur keeps its shape over so many
years...........I was lucky to see a Centaur G in Plant 19 in San Diego
in 1999.
1958 launch vehicle highlights: Vanguard TV-4 and Atlas 12B

Online ugordan

  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 8520
    • My mainly Cassini image gallery
  • Liked: 3543
  • Likes Given: 759
Re: Indentification needed of picture taken at Huntsville
« Reply #5 on: 12/11/2008 10:32 am »
Why the two engines? If it starts out in LEO already, does it really need high thrust?

Offline edkyle99

  • Expert
  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 15391
    • Space Launch Report
  • Liked: 8566
  • Likes Given: 1356
Re: Indentification needed of picture taken at Huntsville
« Reply #6 on: 12/11/2008 06:44 pm »
Why the two engines? If it starts out in LEO already, does it really need high thrust?

It was derived from the Atlas Centaur stage, which needed two engines to reduce gravity losses during its first burn.  I think NASA may have been contemplating a single-engine version to be developed later. 

 - Ed Kyle

Offline Jim

  • Night Gator
  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 37440
  • Cape Canaveral Spaceport
  • Liked: 21450
  • Likes Given: 428
Re: Indentification needed of picture taken at Huntsville
« Reply #7 on: 12/11/2008 07:29 pm »
Why the two engines? If it starts out in LEO already, does it really need high thrust?

It was derived from the Atlas Centaur stage, which needed two engines to reduce gravity losses during its first burn.  I think NASA may have been contemplating a single-engine version to be developed later. 

 - Ed Kyle

The aft end was the same as the Atlas Centaur version to save money

Offline edkyle99

  • Expert
  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 15391
    • Space Launch Report
  • Liked: 8566
  • Likes Given: 1356
Re: Indentification needed of picture taken at Huntsville
« Reply #8 on: 12/12/2008 05:21 am »
Why the two engines? If it starts out in LEO already, does it really need high thrust?

It was derived from the Atlas Centaur stage, which needed two engines to reduce gravity losses during its first burn.  I think NASA may have been contemplating a single-engine version to be developed later. 

 - Ed Kyle

The aft end was the same as the Atlas Centaur version to save money

Here are a few more photos of the G-Prime that I took in 2005.

 - Ed Kyle
« Last Edit: 12/12/2008 05:21 am by edkyle99 »

Offline blazotron

  • Non est ad astra mollis e terris via
  • Full Member
  • **
  • Posts: 226
  • Liked: 18
  • Likes Given: 2
Re: Indentification needed of picture taken at Huntsville
« Reply #9 on: 12/12/2008 08:25 am »
I am curious as to how the Centaur keeps its shape over so many
years...........I was lucky to see a Centaur G in Plant 19 in San Diego
in 1999.

I believe they keep it pressurized.  You can occasionally hear a pump cycling when you walk by.

Offline Art LeBrun

  • Photo freak
  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 2128
  • Orange, California
  • Liked: 35
  • Likes Given: 0
Re: Indentification needed of picture taken at Huntsville
« Reply #10 on: 12/12/2008 03:24 pm »
I am curious as to how the Centaur keeps its shape over so many
years...........I was lucky to see a Centaur G in Plant 19 in San Diego
in 1999.

I believe they keep it pressurized.  You can occasionally hear a pump cycling when you walk by.

Thank you. As a contrast I understand Atlas 2E in San Diego has an internal plywood structure to maintain it's shape. No pump in sight.
1958 launch vehicle highlights: Vanguard TV-4 and Atlas 12B

Offline Blackstar

  • Veteran
  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 15288
  • Liked: 7823
  • Likes Given: 2
Re: Indentification needed of picture taken at Huntsville
« Reply #11 on: 12/12/2008 09:41 pm »
Whatever it is, it is, like most of the other space hardware at Huntsville, rapidly decaying.

I saw it in January and have photos.  The vehicle itself was in good shape.  The engine bells are covered with (HUH?) plywood, which has rotted through.  You can see that a bit in the photos here.

I believe that this was actually an engineering test model, not a mockup or flight model.

Offline Hoonte

  • Regular
  • Full Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 481
  • Liked: 21
  • Likes Given: 7
Re: Indentification needed of picture taken at Huntsville
« Reply #12 on: 12/15/2008 02:52 pm »
Maybe it's nice to start a new thread by people naming: "guess the picture" :-)
Drogues populaires www.viagrasansordonnancefr.com toxicose du medicament

Tags:
 

Advertisement NovaTech
Advertisement Northrop Grumman
Advertisement
Advertisement Margaritaville Beach Resort South Padre Island
Advertisement Brady Kenniston
Advertisement NextSpaceflight
Advertisement Nathan Barker Photography
0