So what impact will opening up the Virginia coast to oil drilling have on Taurus/Wallops operations?http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100331/ap_on_bi_ge/us_obama_drilling
I read a rumour that Aerojet offered the hypergolic AJ-10. Given that this worked so well on the Delta-II, it isn't a bad option.
Quote from: Ben the Space Brit on 03/15/2010 05:00 pmI read a rumour that Aerojet offered the hypergolic AJ-10. Given that this worked so well on the Delta-II, it isn't a bad option. Heck, license the Delta II upper stage plans from ULA/Boeing and slap it on there. It's almost the right size, has almost zero risk, and would be 100% American (keeping the total vehicle >51%)...
I congratulate Orbital with April, 1st!Taurus-III:
Quote from: Dmitry_V_home on 04/01/2010 01:31 pmI congratulate Orbital with April, 1st!Taurus-III:The April 1st rumor I heard was they gained so much experience with the NK-33's that the Taurus-III-0 first stage was gonna have 30 NK-33's They are just waiting for enough stimulus money to relocate the VAB to Wallops.
Heck, license the Delta II upper stage plans from ULA/Boeing and slap it on there. It's almost the right size, has almost zero risk, and would be 100% American (keeping the total vehicle >51%)...
Rats! You found us out! But the problem is not moving the VAB, it's the Crawler/Transporter's ground pressure load... the ground at Wallops is so soft that the tracks sink 12 ft before the sand compacts enough to hold the weight of the silly thing...
Quote from: simonbp on 04/01/2010 07:06 amQuote from: Ben the Space Brit on 03/15/2010 05:00 pmI read a rumour that Aerojet offered the hypergolic AJ-10. Given that this worked so well on the Delta-II, it isn't a bad option. Heck, license the Delta II upper stage plans from ULA/Boeing and slap it on there. It's almost the right size, has almost zero risk, and would be 100% American (keeping the total vehicle >51%)...Could even just buy them right from ULA/Boeing. An interesting proposal, you must admit. Same upper stage, but with a lower stage which has 4x the thrust and higher ISP.
Quote from: kevin-rf on 03/31/2010 02:38 pmSo what impact will opening up the Virginia coast to oil drilling have on Taurus/Wallops operations?http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100331/ap_on_bi_ge/us_obama_drillingThe Daily Press of Hampton Roads, Virginia carried a news article this morning at http://www.dailypress.com/news/dp-local_offshore-drilling_0401apr01,0,2214700.story.
A question that is a little of topic, but when you have to evac and oil rig for a launch who pays for it? The oil company or the launch customer? Will VA drilling have an impact on Orbital's launch prices?
I don't think that just popping a Delta-K stage on top of the Taurus II first would actually buy you an increased payload. More versatility to be sure, with the multiple ignitions, but less impulse. --N
Antonioe, Every time you mention the Wallops soil I keep thinking about a mid 80's mag article that had a picture of a pile coming back up in a parking lot right next to the pile driver...
Quote from: just-nick on 04/01/2010 05:57 pmI don't think that just popping a Delta-K stage on top of the Taurus II first would actually buy you an increased payload. More versatility to be sure, with the multiple ignitions, but less impulse. --NYou are correct; to come close to exceeding Castor-30 performance you have to almost double the stage fuel load (it's not just a matter of total impulse - thrust level makes the AJ-10 based stage much less DV-efficient so you actually need MORE total impulse than the Castor 30 to simply match the C-30 performance).The problem with that is not as much bigger tanks, but that you also double the burn time. Being ablatively cooled, the AJ-10 would have to be modified and re-certified (with appropriate testing) for the much extended burn time. But even if the ablative material could be modified to handle this extended burn time, there is no guarantee that the unit itself could take the extended soakback thermal load. It was never designed for such a long burn duration.Believe me, we looked into it!