Inflatable heat shield to be launched

future projects, hypersonic, launch vehicles, research, rockets, spacecraft No Responses »

Nov 102022

Atlas launch to test inflatable heat shield

A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 is scheduled to lift off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 4:25 a.m. Eastern Nov. 10. The primary payload of the rocket is the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) 2 weather satellite …

A secondary payload on the launch of JPSS-2 is Low-Earth Orbit Flight Test of an Inflatable Decelerator (LOFTID), a NASA technology demonstration. While JPSS-2 will be deployed nearly a half-hour after liftoff, LOFTID will remain attached to the Centaur until 75 minutes after liftoff, following a deorbit burn of the Centaur.

Shortly before deployment, LOFTID will inflate a reentry shield six meters in diameter. That heat shield will slow down the vehicle from orbital velocity to Mach 0.7 as instruments on board collect data on the performance of the shield. LOFTID will then deploy parachutes to slow it down for the rest of its descent, splashing down in the Pacific east of Hawaii to be recovered by a ship.

Inflatable heat shields have been studied since before humans flew into space. Normal heat shields need to withstand insanely high temperatures, requiring materials that are either insanely expensive and complex, or that involve complex, fragile and heavy active cooling systems (such as water cooling through transpiration), or which are ablative. The latter variety is technologically fairly simple, but ablatives tend to be heavy and they are labor intensive to apply and make reusability difficult.

With temperatures reaching several thousand degrees, inflatable materials would seem inappropriate for heat shields. But those high temperatures are not a mandatory feature of re-entry. To a first hand-wave approximation, the maximum temperature is proportional to the mass-per-surface-area of the re-entry vehicle. A one-ton vehicle is going to have to shed all of its orbital velocity, converting all that kinetic energy into thermal, regardless of the size or shape or cross-sectional area. The way that is done is by compressing the air the vehicle slams into; the heating isn’t due to friction, but to the compression of the gas. If you can spread that heating energy out wider… the gas doesn’t heat up as much per unit surface area. Heating can be reduced from the sort of thing that will melt tungsten to the sort of thing that can be survived by advanced polymer fibers. As a bonus, the inflatable shield, being far larger than the solid shield on the vehicle, provides drag all the way down. In principle it would be possible to dispense with parachutes, wings, retro-rockets, and simply drift down using the shield as an inverted parachute. This was the case for the Douglas “PARACONE” concept from the mid-1960s, designed for, among other uses, as an emergency “life boat” for astronauts in space. It would provide for a safe entry, deceleration and touchdown on either land or water.

APR Rewards: October 2022

bomber, CAD Diagrams, fighter, hi-rez, hypersonic, launch vehicles, Monthly Historical Documents Program, Patreon, rockets, spacecraft, spaceplane, VTOL No Responses »

Nov 012022

The October 2022 rewards are available for APR Patrons and Subscribers. This latest package includes:

Large format art: A Bell Aerospace painting of the D188A VTOL fighter/bomber

Document: “Standard Aircraft Characteristics – Convair Class VF Seaplane Night Fighter (SKATE)” diagrams and data for seaplane jet fighter

Document: “21St Century Aerospace – The 20th Century Challenge,” General Dynamics presentation, late 80’s about hypersonics/NASP. From photographs.

Document: “Prototype X-14 VTOL Aircraft,” Bell Aerospace presentation, 1971, on the “SeaKat” operational naval VTOL. From photos, but art and diagrams were also scanned for clarity.

CAD Diagram ($5 and up): XB-70 Valkyrie forward fuselage configuration

If you would like to help fund the acquisition and preservation of such things, along with getting high quality scans for yourself, please consider signing on either for the APR Patreon or the APR Monthly Historical Documents Program. Back issues are available for purchase by patrons and subscribers.

Manned Hypersonic Test Vehicle

hypersonic, Recon, research, rockets, spaceplane, US Recon & Research Projects No Responses »

Oct 242022

A photo of a wind tunnel model of a Republic Aviation design for a Manned Hypersonic Test Vehicle configuration. The photo was published in 1969, but the program was circa 1965. It used a configuration previously studied as both an Aerospaceplane (airbreathing SSTO) and Mach 10 recon. That latter design was written about and illustrated in US Research & Recon Projects #2. You can tell that this is the subscale demonstrator, rather than one of the full-scale operational vehicles, because of the additional fuel tanks, projection from the lower fuselage. The fuselage was conical and ringed with a scramjet engine; a rocket engine in the tail would, after separation from a B-52 carrier aircraft, accelerate the vehicle past Mach 7 or so to scramjet operational speed.

CAD diagrams

bomber, CAD Diagrams, Dyna Soar, fighter, hi-rez, hypersonic, launch vehicles, nukes, Recon, research, rockets, space shuttle, spacecraft, spaceplane, stealth, transports, VTOL No Responses »

Oct 122022

I’m at work on a new series of CAD diagrams (see HERE for the first run) to be released as PDFs formatted for printing at 18X24. For example, here are first drafts of a few:

Boeing Space Sortie (3 sheets)
Saturn C-8/Nova
Jules Verne’s “Columbiad”
A-12 Avenger II (2 sheets)
Lockheed CL-400 “Suntan”

All of these require a bit more dressing-up, as well as explanatory text. But I think they’re starting to look pretty good.

I’ve selected a fair number more to work on. If any of these are of particular interest, or if any of the many, many diagrams I’ve made over the years would be of interest, let me know.

BIS “Daedalus” straship
Rockwell MRCC
Northrop Tacit Blue
Space Shuttle Main Engine
Boeing Bird of Prey
General Atomic 86-foot Orion
General Atomic Orion battleship
General Atomic 10-meter Orion
Martin SeaMistress
Space Launch System
Have Sting orbital railgun
Casaba Howitzer
X-20 Dyna Soar
B-47E
DB-47E/Bold Orion
DB-47E/RASCAL
B-52G
B-52H
B-52H/Skybolt
Boeing Space Freighter
Boeing Big Onion
Shuttle C
Rockwell Star Raker
Lockheed STAR Clipper
Lockheed SR-71
Lockheed A-12 (early canards)
Lockheed A-12
Lockheed A-12 (honeycomb panels)
Lockheed A-12 “Titanium Goose”
Lockheed YF-12A
Lockheed M-21/D-21
Lockheed AP-12
Republic YF-103
North American XF-108
Bell MX-2147
Convair Kingfish

Thoughts on crowdfunding a book

bomber, Dyna Soar, future projects, hypersonic, launch vehicles, nukes, rockets, space shuttle, spacecraft, spaceplane, US Supersonic Bomber Projects vol 1 No Responses »

Oct 042022

My third book, “US Supersonic Bomber Projects Vol 1” is, as I understand it, somewhere between “being printed” and “being shipped.” I am thus hard at work on Volume 2. I had hoped to also do a Volume 3, but that is unlikely: Volume 3 would be “Space Bombers.” However, apparently the market for “space” is nothing like what it is for “aviation,” so the idea has been nixed. There is official interest in several other works I’ve planned, so properly published books seem likely to continue for some time.

That said: while the market for “space” is less than the market for “aviation,” my own interest in the two is about equal. And I would be happy to sell works at a number substantially lower than a professional, proper publisher would. A publisher would have books on bookstore or grocery store shelves, while I would only sell from my little website. And if I’m not incredibly stupid about it (no guarantee of that, of course), a self-published book would, theoretically, bring in more on a per-book basis than one done through a publisher. So I’m contemplating something like a Kickstarter for “Space Bombers.”

As currently laid out, this book would be almost overwhelmingly “The Book Of Dyna Soar,” as the bulk of (available) American space-based bombardment studies revolved around that program. However, it would extend well beyond Dyna Soar, including Orion and other strategic orbital weapons systems studied back in the sixties, on up through much more recent studies including aerospaceplanes and bombers based on the X-33/Venturestar/RLV studies. Being self published I would not be locked into a set page count and, perhaps, could include foldouts and perhaps more color art (depending on funding). This could be released as both an Ebook and a softcover… and, depending on length, a hardback. Other “extras” could include 18X24 or 24X36 prints of diagrams, perhaps on something like mylar.

I am *far* from setting up a Kickstarter for this. I’ve seen a lot of people get *really* mad about funding this or that project and then watching it slip far behind schedule, so I wouldn’t even start a crowdfunding campaign until it was substantially complete. There are a number of topic areas that I really want to delve into more deeply via FOIA and whatnot, a process that has become far more troublesome in recent years. At this point it’s in the “this is an idea to think about” stage. But I am interested in any input on the subject… thoughts on crowdfunding, ideas about subjects to add and, as always, input of documentation on the topic that you might have that you think I may not.

Sep 062022

I looked through a small fraction of my surprisingly vast pile of CAD diagrams for some I thought might look good in really large format. Some I’ve gone some distance towards formatting them that way already; some are still formatted for small sheets. There are more, of course. In no particular order.

Lockheed CL-400 “Suntan”

Lockheed M-21/D-21:

Lockheed A-12:

Lockheed SR-71A:

Lockheed YF-12A:

X-20 Dyna Soar/Titan III:

A number of 10-Meter Orion vehicles/sub-vehicles:

USAF 10-meter Orion:

General Dynamics “Kingfish:”

North American XF-108:

Lockheed A-12 concept w/canards:

Boeing B-47E:

Boeing B-52G:

Boeing B-52H:

Boeing B-52H + Skybolt:

Boeing DB-47E + Bold Orion:

Rockwell Star Raker:

Boeing “Big Onion” SSTO:

Boeing Space Freighter:

NASA Saturn C-8:

Lockheed STAR Clipper:

Sep 052022

Back in 2016 I released seven PDFs of CAD diagrams formatted for printing at 24X36 inches (those are shown after the break). This was another product line that didn’t exactly blow up the market, and no further diagrams were released. But now that I have two books of CAD diagrams released, and two more coming (and potentially more after that), I’m considering trying again. The Lockheed CL-400 Suntan, A-11, A-12, SR-71, YF-12, along with several B-47 and B-52 related designs are possible, as well as designs that aren’t from those books (X-20 Dyna Soar, several Orion vehicles, etc.). If this sounds interesting, let me know; if there is something specific you might be interested in, let me know.

And the HL-10 lithograph

hi-rez, hypersonic, research, rockets, space shuttle, spacecraft, spaceplane No Responses »

Aug 052022

The same seller trying to sell the Martin X-23 lithograph is also selling a lithograph of an orbital HL-10.

Turns out that these two lithographs are, at least based on stains on the X-23 matting, the same two lithographs sold just a few months ago. I’m dubious of turning around two lithographs that sold for $384 together for a grand or more each. The seller has a *lot* of high-value items… celebrity autographs and such, so he’s presumably doing well, but normally a lithograph like this would sell for well under $100.

Shrug.

Anyway, the art depicts an HL-10 coming in for a landing. The configuration includes a raised cockpit and reaction control thrusters at the tail; the white paint seems burned off along the underside. This would indicate an orbital craft after re-entry. Given the lack of an apparent hatch in the rear, this would not seem to be an operational orbital HL-10 (depicted hereabouts many times in the past) but instead a slightly smaller test vehicle, probably with a single pilot, possible lobbed on a once-around flight.

McDonnell Model 176 Lifting Body Crowdfund Success

hi-rez, hypersonic, Monthly Historical Documents Program, Patreon, research, rockets, spacecraft, spaceplane 1 Response »

Jul 012022

Recently APR Patrons/Subscribers and I were able to successfully crowdfund the purchase of a lot off ebay that included a few folders of vintage lifting body work. The chief prize from the lot was a *giant* blueprint of a “GTV Structure,” a manned Model 176/ FDL-7 lifting body test vehicle (“GTV” was not explained, but I suspect it means something like “Glide Test Vehicle,” designed to be dropped from an NB-52). Scanning of the lot is underway; the crowdfunders now have access to the blueprint in several forms (full size, halfsize; full color, grayscale).

If you would like to help fund the acquisition and preservation of such things, please consider signing on either for the APR Patreon or the APR Monthly Historical Documents Program.

APR Rewards: June 2022

fighter, hi-rez, hypersonic, Monthly Historical Documents Program, Patreon, research, rockets, spaceplane, transports, VTOL No Responses »

Jun 302022

I’ve just made the June 2022 rewards available for APR Patrons and Subscribers. This latest package includes:

Large format diagram: “X-15 Access Doors.” A North American Aviation diagram from 1956 showing all the openable panels on the port (left) side of the fuselage

Document: “Harpoon Coastal Defense System:” McDonnell Douglas brochure on a truck-launched anti-ship missile

Document: “Harpoon for Fast Patrol Boats:” McDonnell Douglas brochure on anti-ship missiles for small ships

Document: “Shorts Skyvan:” small brochure about the boxy cargo aircraft

Document: “VTOL Design – Turbojet Configurations” Northrop paper on VTOL fighters, mostly a historical review but with basic layouts for designs up to Mach 3

Document: Turbofan propaganda. A number of brochures and data sheets and such on turbofans and turbojets… PW4000, F100, JT9D-7R4, J57.

CAD diagram ($5 and up): IM-99B BOMARC surface to air missile general arrangement

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