tnphysics - 29/9/2007 5:56 PMTo carry astronauts to Biglow's space stations.
tnphysics - 30/9/2007 5:28 AMThe contract for crew transportation to Bigelow's habitats will probably go to SpaceX IMO.
(from several members):What would happen if Bigelow said in public that Dream Chaser would be the vehicle used to ferry passengers and consummables?Dragon will probably get that award.What award?The contract for crew transportation to Bigelow's habitats will probably go to SpaceX IMO.
What would happen if Bigelow said in public that Dream Chaser would be the vehicle used to ferry passengers and consummables?
Dragon will probably get that award.
What award?
The contract for crew transportation to Bigelow's habitats will probably go to SpaceX IMO.
Launch-Pad Abort Capabilities of the HL-20 Lifting Body( 19940030181_1994030181.pdf )>Abstract:The capability of the HL-20 lifting body to perform an abort maneuver from the launch pad to a horizontal landing was studied. The study involved both, piloted and batch simulation models of the vehicle. A point-mass model of the vehicle was used for trajectory optimisation studies. The piloted simulation was performed in the Langley Visual/Motion Simulator in the fixed-base mode. A candidate maneuver was developed and refined for the worst-case launch-pad-to-landing site geometry with an iterative procedure of off-line maneuver analysis followed by piloted evaluations and heuristic improvements to the candidate maneuver. The resultinq maneuver demonstrates the launchsite abort capability of the HL-2O and dictates requirements for nominal abort-motor performance. The sensitivity of the maneuver to variations in several design parameters was documented.>The math model used in the piloted simulation was derived from an existing HL-20 approach-and landing simulation model (refs.5 and6). Modifications included adding a model of the steerable abort motor with thrust and pitch-roll torques specified as a function of time, modeling the orbital maneuvering subsystem (OMS) rocket motors, and increasing the vehicle mass properties appropriately. Modifications to the flight-director and autopilot controll aws, the control-law mode-switch in logic, and simulation initialization logic were required. Head-up and headdown flight displays were modified to assistin pilot orientation during the maneuve.
>A 6700-1b adapter module will be used to connect the HL-20 to the launch vehicle. (See fig. 2.) This adapter design will include a launch escape system that is intended to thrust the HL-20 away from the booster in case of a malfunction either during the actual launch or on the pad prior to launch (on-pad abort). Acceleration levels on tile order of 8g's (lg = 32.2 ft/sec 2) would be required to propel the vehicle a safe distance away from a malfunctioning booster. After a specified time, the abort-motor thrust would drop to approximately lg for an additional specified amount of time to avoid excessive velocities and associated drag. The adapter module would be jettisoned following abort-motor burnout.>
marsavian - 12/1/2008 7:34 PMSilver Dart is a suborbital tourist vehicle, just a quick rocketplane really. HL-20/Dreamchaser on the other hand is meant to be a mini Space Shuttle.
marsavian - 12/1/2008 11:37 PMTheir CEO doesn't seem to think sohttp://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/11/30/490524.aspxhttp://www.space.com/news/071130-cots-planetspace.html Kathuria said the Modular Cargo Carrier is being developed separately from PlanetSpace's planned Silver Dart spacecraft, a reusable space plane based on the U.S. Air Force's Flight Dynamics Laboratory-7 (FDL-7) that is designed to fly cargo or up to eight astronauts through suborbital space for joy rides or point-to-point transportation on Earth."We're continuing down that development very strongly in terms of developing the FDL-7 for what we call cargo express or space tourism," Kathuria said. "That's the commercial part of our business."
Sid454 - 25/1/2008 12:39 AM1. Though the real issue here is 175M just is not enough for any of the COTS companies to really fund a vehicle properly more money needs to be given to this program to get good results.2. Or try and get the Orion LAS contract too and say experience gained with DC's escape system could be applied to Orion.
meiza - 14/1/2008 2:02 PMInteresting. X-24B had a hypersonic L/D of about 3http://history.nasa.gov/SP-4220/ch8.htmAnd the FDL-7 and 8 should have had about double so 6. Interesting for Silver Dart.