Armadillo Aerospace Update Thread

[Robotbeat]

Also shows options for the multi-stage (orbital?) Stigs.

The largest looks like it should be capable of orbital flights, if they can shave enough weight off the center stage and make incremental performance improvements elsewhere.

Just as likely, it's merely a power-point "what if" with an orbital system being something different (or further on the back-burner than this makes it look).

http://www.parabolicarc.com/2012/07/26/armadillo-aerospace-gets-launch-license-for-reusable-stig-b/

The Stig-III doesn't appear to be orbital-capable (not enough stages or the right staging ratio for a pressure-fed to get orbital), more like a high-suborbital like a traditional multi-stage sounding rocket but serving also as a platform for testing staging techniques (something I don't think they've done before).

[jongoff]

Also it came out at NewSpace that Ben Brockert recently left AA.

[savuporo]

I was trawling NTRS for recent LOX/Methane propulsion related materials , and ran across this, i dont think ive seen it posted elsewhere
http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20090032801_2009026914.pdf


( Was actually surprised to see how much has been done and much data is there for the Aerojet, ATK/XCOR, Norhtrop/Grumman, PWR RS-18, KTE etc LOX/methane thrusters in all shapes and sizes ranging from 5 to 7500lbf . There is even a very detailed pdf test report publicly available on jsc server from Aerojet tests that is clearly marked as ITAR sensitive .. )

[spectre9]

Dead link.

Either the server is down or it's been removed.

This is why it's good to attach.

[zt]

works for me

[spectre9]

Thanks zt. Looks like some good stuff in there. 

[grythumn]

[blink] Does "accent" have a meaning I'm not familiar with in this context, or did they mean "ascent"?

-R C

[vulture4]

works for me

I notice the Armadillo rocket fuel tanks were vertically stacked rather than using four tanks around the engine as in the Morpheus.

[jongoff]

works for me

I notice the Armadillo rocket fuel tanks were vertically stacked rather than using four tanks around the engine as in the Morpheus.

Yeah, their earlier Quad vehicles had a similar layout to Morpheus (and the Lunar Module Descent Stage), but John Carmack wasn't really a fan of that orientation after all the issues they ran into, and so their newer vehicles all have vertically stacked tanks. IIRC, I remember John saying (at Space Access most likely) something about trying to talk the Project M guys out of the Quad architecture, but failing.

~Jon

[A_M_Swallow]

Yeah, their earlier Quad vehicles had a similar layout to Morpheus (and the Lunar Module Descent Stage), but John Carmack wasn't really a fan of that orientation after all the issues they ran into, and so their newer vehicles all have vertically stacked tanks. IIRC, I remember John saying (at Space Access most likely) something about trying to talk the Project M guys out of the Quad architecture, but failing.

~Jon

The Project M white paper shows Robonaut exiting the lander from the side.  If the tanks are stacked then the cargo will either have to climb down a ladder or use a tall ramp.
http://robonaut.jsc.nasa.gov/future/whitepaper/default.asp

Project Morpheus could still change lander design.

[jongoff]

Yeah, their earlier Quad vehicles had a similar layout to Morpheus (and the Lunar Module Descent Stage), but John Carmack wasn't really a fan of that orientation after all the issues they ran into, and so their newer vehicles all have vertically stacked tanks. IIRC, I remember John saying (at Space Access most likely) something about trying to talk the Project M guys out of the Quad architecture, but failing.

~Jon

The Project M white paper shows Robonaut exiting the lander from the side.  If the tanks are stacked then the cargo will either have to climb down a ladder or use a tall ramp.
http://robonaut.jsc.nasa.gov/future/whitepaper/default.asp

Project Morpheus could still change lander design.

I was suggesting something more Xeus/DTAL-esque.

~Jon

[A_M_Swallow]

Yeah, their earlier Quad vehicles had a similar layout to Morpheus (and the Lunar Module Descent Stage), but John Carmack wasn't really a fan of that orientation after all the issues they ran into, and so their newer vehicles all have vertically stacked tanks. IIRC, I remember John saying (at Space Access most likely) something about trying to talk the Project M guys out of the Quad architecture, but failing.

~Jon

The Project M white paper shows Robonaut exiting the lander from the side.  If the tanks are stacked then the cargo will either have to climb down a ladder or use a tall ramp.
http://robonaut.jsc.nasa.gov/future/whitepaper/default.asp

Project Morpheus could still change lander design.

I was suggesting something more Xeus/DTAL-esque.

~Jon

Half tonne to 14 tonne payload.  That is an order of magnitude bigger.  A Moon business is likely to find having both small + cheap and a large + expensive landers useful.

The large lander could have 4 or 5 (or 9) engines.  Or develop a big engine.  Something cheaper than the RL-10 that burns a space storable fuel.

[jongoff]

I said Xeux/DTAL-esque. You can do horizontal landers like that with non-Centaur-derived main propulsion. But this is getting far afield for an AA thread.

I'm looking forward to seeing how Stig-B does with its flight (notionally set for next month).

~Jon

[zt]

https://twitter.com/ID_AA_Carmack/status/242668869586673666/photo/1

20" diameter rockets are perfect for launching nephews into space

[jongoff]

I showed that to my boys, and my 7 year old said that he wanted the next ride. :-)