Author Topic: Aircraft Carrier Launched Atlas Concept (Read 22460 times)

Bob Shaw · « **Reply #40 on:** 03/15/2022 11:59 am »

Has anyone else noticed that there appear to be people standing on the flight-deck in the B&W illustration of a (two-engined) Atlas being launched at sea?

Blackstar · « **Reply #41 on:** 03/15/2022 02:32 pm »

Quote from: Bob Shaw on 03/15/2022 11:59 am

Has anyone else noticed that there appear to be people standing on the flight-deck in the B&W illustration of a (two-engined) Atlas being launched at sea?

You're right.

edzieba · « **Reply #42 on:** 03/15/2022 02:48 pm »

And that the sustainer engine has failed to ignite.

Jim · « **Reply #43 on:** 03/15/2022 03:02 pm »

Quote from: edzieba on 03/15/2022 02:48 pm

And that the sustainer engine has failed to ignite.

Atlas A had no sustainer

LittleBird · « **Reply #44 on:** 03/15/2022 03:34 pm »

Quote from: Blackstar on 03/15/2022 02:32 pm

Quote from: Bob Shaw on 03/15/2022 11:59 am
Has anyone else noticed that there appear to be people standing on the flight-deck in the B&W illustration of a (two-engined) Atlas being launched at sea?

You're right.

Mark you, I'm not sure that those below decks are a whole lot safer ...

Wanting to check that Sea Launch evacuated its crew to a safe distance before launch I came across some more launch-ship examples here at Anatoly Zak's pages: One of the earliest studies of a sea-based launch site was pioneered by the US Navy's Bureau of Ships around 1963. It considered a 17,700-ton, 565-feet vessel, capable of carrying up to three space launchers. Erected on the edge of the ship's stern, the rockets would lift off vertically, carrying satellites to a geostationary orbit. The main rationale for building a space-launching ship was its ability to be deployed in the equatorial regions of the Earth, where access to the geostationary orbit would be more energy efficient and cheaper compared to missions originating from Cape Canaveral. (263) https://www.russianspaceweb.com/sealaunch.html

ref is 263. Popular Science, Navy Designs Seagoing Pad to Launch Satellites at Sea, May 1963, p. 64

edzieba · « **Reply #45 on:** 03/15/2022 03:57 pm »

Quote from: Jim on 03/15/2022 03:02 pm

Quote from: edzieba on 03/15/2022 02:48 pm
And that the sustainer engine has failed to ignite.

Atlas A had no sustainer

Though with the double-cranked nose it looks more like an SLV-3 with an incongruous LES or other pylon stuck on top (like the proposed Atlas Vega Mercury thing).