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Do you think we need a Heavy Lifter like the Ares? If so, when? Read this to: http://groups.msn.com/DaveDietzler/newconnections.msnw
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I personnaly believe that having a heavy lifter is within our interests. It opens up many possibilities for launching equipment and reduces costs by being able to launch unique large loads in one piece(ISS).
We are only limited by our Will and our Imagination.
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Thus far, ISS has been a tremendous waste. At this rate, NASA & co. will have spent far more time assembling it that using it for science. COntrast this with the space station plans that Von Braun and other had in the late '60s. Before 1980, an uprated Saturn V was to launch a twelve-man space station that replaced the drag-producing solar panels of the ISS with a nuclear reactor. Even Skylab, an 84-ton station launched by the standard Saturn V, had the same amount of internal volume as the ISS.
Who needs Michael Griffin when you can have Peter Griffin? Catch "Family Guy" Sunday nights on FOX.
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Solar panels may have their negatives but do we really want nuclear reactors orbiting the Earth? I can live with sending a nuclear reactor to another planet but I'm not sure I want one that could inadvertently re-enter the Earth's atmosphere and spread contamination.
My people don't call themselves Sioux or Dakota. We call ourselves Ikce Wicasa, the natural humans, the free, wild, common people. I am pleased to call myself that. -Lame Deer
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Solar or nuclear? If solar can do the job, be cautious and use solar. If nuclear is the only way to do it, we got to use nuclear.
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Here's a nutty idea: http://groups.msn.com/DaveDie....oID=354
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It's not such a nutty idea. No human has ever been to GEO before, so I'd like to do it for the sake of adventure. With a two-man Gemini, the large SDV still seems like overkill (without having done any calculations on what it would take to put Gemini or Big G in GEO.) The second-stage motor would need a fairing over the nozzle to cut down on drag.
Who needs Michael Griffin when you can have Peter Griffin? Catch "Family Guy" Sunday nights on FOX.
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Yes, a faring would be needed over the GEO transfer stg. engine. To reach GEO from LEO you need to speed up to 23,000 mph, then a 3,000 mph burn to circularize. To return a 3,000 mph burn and then aerobraked reentry. The Gemini capsule would have to be modified with a better heat shield. It could also use modern electronics and displays. The old Gemini had mechanical displays, sort of like odometers in it! And a computer with like 16K!
Anyhow, if 330 second hydrazine/N2O4 motors are used on the 2nd stg., a mass ratio of 4.8 is needed, so a payload of about 16.7 tons can go if the Shuttle Z can haul 80 tons to LEO. I don't know what a Gemini with service module masses. The GEO transfer stg. should actually consist of two stgs. for efficiency.
There's room for lots of ideas about this sort of thing.
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The basic Gemini weighed 2.6 tonnes, the baseline USAF Big Gemini weighed 15.6 tonnes. Much heavier versions of Big G were also planned, making use of larger Titan and Saturn rockets to deliver more cargo.
Who needs Michael Griffin when you can have Peter Griffin? Catch "Family Guy" Sunday nights on FOX.
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How much work is involved in re-applying an ablative coating?
We are only limited by our Will and our Imagination.
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It's not an easy feat. A white ablative was developed for the X-15 that could be stripped off and reapplied between flights. However, this ablative could not handle the heat generated at Mach 6.7, and the airframe was damaged.
Who needs Michael Griffin when you can have Peter Griffin? Catch "Family Guy" Sunday nights on FOX.
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Well, that was 36 years ago.
So, I imagine that it is very possible that something exists today that could do it.
We are only limited by our Will and our Imagination.
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Seems to me it should be possible to remove an old heat shield and install a new on a capsule.
So far, only 7 votes, none against building a RHLLV.
good link about the Big G: http://www.astronautix.com/craft/bigemini.htm
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If the ablative covering was attached to a metal shield that fit over the capsule, it shouldn't be too hard to jettison the shield just before landing and then replace it before re-flight. A hot structure would be needed on the other areas of the capsule to prevent a burn-through.
Who needs Michael Griffin when you can have Peter Griffin? Catch "Family Guy" Sunday nights on FOX.
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We could jettison the heat shield while parachuting down to Edwards AFB to get rid of the weight and inflate airbags for a landing as soft as splashdown on water.
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