January 2017 – Aerospace Projects Review Blog

Non-Nuclear Polaris

Jan 292017

Some time back there was an EBay auction for a Polaris display model with a difference. The missile itself seemed normal enough, but the warhead was distinctly unusual. It was a plexiglas cone filled with small metal spheres:

Assuming that this model is truly official (it seems to be, but who knows), then it would appear that Lockheed gave some thought to a Polaris armed with biological or chemical warheads. I would speculate that this probably isn’t a biological weapon… biowar agents are usually fairly slow and you generally want to distribute them quietly, while a SLBM is terribly fast and not at all sneaky. My guess is that the metal spheres are the M139 bomblets, designed to carry 590 grams of Sarin nerve gas. The M139 was loaded on the Honest John and Pershing missiles in the 1960’s. The preceding design was the M134 bomblet, some 334 of which could be carried by an Honest John, as shown in the display piece below:

I have doubts that the Navy would load Sarin or bioweapons on board a submarine… seems to be just asking for trouble. Perhaps this was for a land-transportable missile, carried on a trailer behind a truck. Lockheed tried to sell just such a thing a few times with no success.

Brodie Rig for UAVs

Recon No Responses »

Jan 292017

In 1961 Ryan Aircraft looked at alternate means of ground launching their Firebee UAvs. A number of companies put forward ideas for various catapults. The SDASM Flickr account has illustrations of a number of the concept put forward. One of them was Brodie Rig, similar to the suspended runway I posted about a few weeks ago. Sadly details on this and the other studies is very limited… basically the date and the illustrations. The Brodie rig has what appears to be a winch a tthe end, indicating that the drone would have been accelerated not only by its jet engine but also the rig itself, getting it up to flight speed ASAP. Whether it would be able to be recovered with the rig at the end of the mission is difficult to determine, but doing so would require a definite level of precise flying that I’m not sure the Firebee would have been able to attain in 1961.

See somewhat higher rez version of this illustration HERE.

Early glideback booster

launch vehicles, rockets, space shuttle, space station, spacecraft, spaceplane 2 Responses »

Jan 282017

Below is a piece of Convair art from the SDASM Flickr account showing an early (1959) concept for a space booster with a glideback manned first stage. It’s a little unclear what’s going on with the second stage… the cutaway *seems* to show a space station-like payload where you’d expect to find the second stage engine.

See the SDASM Flickr page for a higher rez version.

Fat Atlas

launch vehicles, rockets No Responses »

Jan 262017

Just sold on EBay (not to me, sadly) is a kinda rough Topping display model of a little known proposed variant of the Atlas space launcher, the SLV-3X. This design had a widened body, from ten feet to 12 feet, 7 inches. This allowed for more propellant to be carried without lengthening the vehicle, meaning that the existing launch infrastructure could be used. Additionally, the MA-5 sustainer rocket engine would be replaced with a higher thrust H-1D engine. See HERE for stats.

The SDASM Flickr account has a nice illustration of the SLV-3X/Centaur. See their site for the higher rez image.

Polaris

hi-rez, nukes, Patreon, rockets 1 Response »

Jan 222017

Here’s an interesting illustration of the Polaris sea launched ballistic missile, taken from a technical manual. I’ve uploaded the full-rez version to the APR Patreon Extras Dropbox folder for 2017-01, so if you are interested, consider signing up for the APR Patreon.

Commercial C-141

jetliner, transports No Responses »

Jan 182017

Currently for sale on EBay is a presumably-vintage model of a Lockheed C-141 in civilian livery. While the C-141 wound up solely a military transport, it would not be surprising that Lockheed would try to sell it on the civilian market. The model doesn’t depict passenger windows, so this was, presumably, still a cargo carrier.

Early Orbital Space Station/2707-300 SST

hi-rez, jetliner, Patreon, space station, spacecraft, transports No Responses »

Jan 122017

The Aerospace Projects Review Patreon rewards for January will include a reasonably massive Douglas report on the Saturn V-launched pre-Skylab “Early Orbital Space Station” and a scan of a reasonably gigantic diagram of the Boeing 2707-300 SST. These will be released before the end of January and will be available to all then-current Patrons. So if these items interest you, and/or if you are interested in helping the effort to find and preserve this sort of aerospace history, be sure to check out the APR Patreon.

And…

Early Viking art (?)

spacecraft 2 Responses »

Jan 082017

Currently on EBay is a vintage piece of artwork that depicts – apparently – a robotic Mars lander probe. it looks a lot like a cross between Surveyor and Viking; it *might* be an advanced Voyager design (from when Voyager was a Saturn V-launched Mars mission, before it was a Titan III-launched outer solar system mission) from the late 1960’s.

XB-70 meets the YF-12A (and the C-141)

bomber, fighter, hi-rez, Patreon, transports 2 Responses »

Jan 022017

A meeting of giants at Edwards Air Force Base in the late 1960’s. It’s interesting to compare the size of the “fighter” with the “bomber…” the bomber, as anyone who has ever stood underneath the sole example in Dayton, is Really Big, but the YF-12 is just not that much smaller. Sustained Mach 3 flight is not for the faint hearted… or the small-engined or those with dainty fuel tanks.

I have made the full-rez version of this photo available for APR Patrons at the $4 level and up in the 2017-01 folder of the APR Extras Dropbox site. If interested in getting this and the previous years worth of Extras, consider signing up for the APR Patreon.

Inexplicable NASA Lithograph auction

spacecraft No Responses »

Jan 022017

Currently nearing its end is an auction for a vintage NASA 8X10 glossy, an artists impression of the Lunar Module separating from the Apollo Command and Service Module. It’s a bit interesting in that it shows an early version of the LEM “bug,” with a number of important differences from the as-built LEM. Note the extended “snout” on the Apollo Command Module for docking with the LEM.

What makes this auction “inexplicable?” At this point, with ten hours to go, there are 14 bids so far with a top price of $115. I’ve seen larger format lithographs go that high, but I’ve never seen a single 8X10 glossy get anywhere near that expensive before, with that many bids.

The same seller has a number of other NASA glossies, most pretty standard. But there’s another early LEM artist concept, currently going for $15. The LEM shown is even earlier than the one above, so I’m a little stumped why it’s currently selling for a small fraction of the price.