Thanks for the info Chris! But I was really referring to when the casings run out.
Instead of doing an advanced booster, why not continue producing 5 seg SRB's and just concentrate on the US.
Has been discussed before, but thanks for reminding by about the Dark Knights article. That was a good read!
Maybe Ares 1 and 5 was to have brand new steel casing tooling to support it that made segments that were not reusable?
Quote from: Lobo on 08/01/2013 08:08 pmMaybe Ares 1 and 5 was to have brand new steel casing tooling to support it that made segments that were not reusable?I believe the boosters on Ares I and V were meant to be recovered, so no need to make new casings.
Quote from: Steven Pietrobon on 08/07/2013 06:23 amQuote from: Lobo on 08/01/2013 08:08 pmMaybe Ares 1 and 5 was to have brand new steel casing tooling to support it that made segments that were not reusable?I believe the boosters on Ares I and V were meant to be recovered, so no need to make new casings.Agreed.Cheers, Martin
Quote from: MP99 on 08/07/2013 07:40 amQuote from: Steven Pietrobon on 08/07/2013 06:23 amQuote from: Lobo on 08/01/2013 08:08 pmMaybe Ares 1 and 5 was to have brand new steel casing tooling to support it that made segments that were not reusable?I believe the boosters on Ares I and V were meant to be recovered, so no need to make new casings.Agreed.Cheers, MartinWell, I dunno then. Like I said, there's a lot of questions and not a lot of answers. If it was an economically viable option, I'd think ATK would be exploring it because unlike before, they will have competition here. So I don't know that they can just say, "This is what we'll provide you...deal with it". I would very much like to know a definitive explaination from ATK as to why they don't seem to be considering an option to restart steel segment production.Is the steel segment tooling no longer available?Will composite casings just be cheaper than going back to steel casings?Perhaps the steel casings can't handle the pressures of the HTPB propellant? But still, they could do an option for more than the 10 existing sets of booster casings with PBAN if NASA desired. Maybe NASA's just not inquiring about any more steel boosters after a potential buy if the existing 10 pairs of them? So ATK's not releasing any information about it?dunno...
Lobo, re your question about steel vs. composite cases: I would think weight is a major issue, especially if ATK might be competing with a liquid booster down the road, no? With solids at an Isp disadvantage, they are looking at "advanced" propellant formulations to try to scratch out a few more seconds. So a reduction in case mass could also improve their overall performance vis-a-vis a liquid booster.