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| 5/25 |
| 2004/1/9-10 [Science/Space] UID:11731 Activity:nil |
1/9 Wtf? From an AP story:
"Apollo was drilled into space with the giant Saturn V rocket, the most
powerful launcher ever built by the United States. After the Apollo
program ended, the equipment, tools and plans for building the rocket
were lost."
I never heard of that. How could all that stuff just be "lost"?
\_ I think the author is using 'lost' as an overly-dramatic synonym for
abandoned or discontinued.
\_ I've actually heard this before. As in, in order to recreate
a Saturn V rocket at this point in time, either one would have
to be reverse engineered, or all new research would have to be
done.
\_ blueprints destroyed. manufacturing capability abandoned, but
microfilm of blueprints was kept, albeit with exceptions.
read the pop mech. link, then the addendum.
http://www.mail-archive.com/europa@klx.com/msg03046.html
\_ This was a hard nut to crack, but http://popularmechanics.com came to
the rescue:
http://csua.org/u/5hz
The relevant portion is located in the last paragraph of the
article.
\_ addendum: http://csua.org/u/5i1
\_ Thanks, that's interesting. Maybe the Russians got the plans. |
| 5/25 |
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| csua.org/u/5hz -> popularmechanics.com/science/extreme_machines/2003/4/saturn_v/print.phtml It was the largest, most powerful rocket ever built and, having served as the launch platform for the Apollo manned moon mission, probably qualifies as the most famous rocket as well. The Saturn Vs task may have been the most monumental in a clearly audacious project. While earlier rockets struggled to put even small capsules into Earth orbit, the Apollo program needed to heft a complex package consisting of a Command Module, a lunar lander and a capsule capable of returning home after a round trip of more than a half-million miles. It took more than a decade of debate to come up with the final design of the Saturn V and the Apollo spacecraft it would blast into the heavens. Research on a 1 million-pound thrust engine actually began in 1953. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration NASA gave approval to the Saturn development program on New Years Eve, 1959. The third stage consisted of a single J-2 engine that generated 225,000 pounds of thrust and burned for another 275 minutes, producing an orbital velocity of around 17,500 mph. Instead, the remaining structure continued to orbit Earth until a go/no-go decision was made by Mission Control in Houston. At that time, the third-stage rocket, technically known as an S-IVB, reignited and achieved translunar injection. Once escape velocity, the speed needed to overcome Earths gravity, or 24,500 mph, was achieved, the S-IVB was discarded as well. The process of elimination continued over the course of the mission. The lower level of the Lunar Excursion Module was left on the moon. By the time three weary astronauts splashed down during their water landing, only a small capsule survived the long and costly mission. In all, including test flights, 13 Saturn V rockets were launched. A Second Life Budget cuts curtailed the Apollo project earlier than originally planned, and it left three Saturn V rockets unused. With an empty third stage from the Saturn V as an orbiting workshop, the rocket lifted Skylab, Americas first, albeit very temporary, space station. The rockets themselves have become museum pieces at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the Johnson Space Center in Houston, and in Huntsville. In addition to propelling America on the most dramatic voyages in human history, the Saturn V created a curious urban legend. In 1996, John Lewis, in his book Mining The Sky , made the startling claim that NASA had lost the Saturn blueprints. Paul Shawcross of NASAs Office of Inspector General came to the rescue. While the claim that the blueprints could not be found was true, that did not mean the engineering genius of the Saturn had been lost. The plans for the worlds largest rocket still exist, on tiny pieces of microfilm. |
| csua.org/u/5i1 -> www.mail-archive.com/europa@klx.com/msg03059.html It might be a great way to get humans into space but still might not solve the heavy lift problem. I dont know what mass the proposed elevator designs are capable of handling. While we do now have what can be called bucky-fibers they are still expensive to manufacture and arent continuous molecular structures thousands of km in length - so I dont know how this would impact the capacity of a space elevator. There is also the significant problem of where to put one, what happens to the bottom levels during a tropical storm and the problem that all hell breaks loose if the cable snaps at any point. I suspect Id lean towards a mass-driver small rocket combination before Id go with a space elevator. The nice thing about robotic missions is that they can be hurled off a mass-driver at much higher velocity due to higher G-force acceleration than can be done with human missions. On the other hand something like some of the X-prize approaches would seem to be much better for simply getting humans up there. Looks like it is a question of using the right tool for each specific job. Ive never seen to date any estimates for what it would take in terms of a mass driver that could launch 100 tons with the velocity of a Saturn V 1st stage but I would like to know. Apparently the Saturn V 1st stage puts out enough power to power NYC for several minutes so one would probably need several nuclear reactors to power the mass driver. |
| popularmechanics.com The carmakers now introduce new models all year long, so the idea of a "model year" has blurred. But our interactive Black Book pricing is still crisp and clear. The German navy may use a version of the Northrop Grumman Global Hawk Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) for maritime surveillance. POPULAR MECHANICS was on hand when a test version, called the Euro Hawk, made a pinpoint landing at Nordholz Air Base near Cuxhaven, Germany. Whether you call it Old Glory or the Stars and Stripes, the flag of the United States is indeed grand and old. Its shape and general configuration were adopted by Congress on June 14, 1777, a day that is now known as Flag Day. Opportunity's and Spirit's roving missions seemed to go smoothly, right? Based on the enormous amount of media coverage they received, you would think so. We're on the scene around the world -- Detroit, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Frankfurt, Tokyo, Paris, Geneva, and even Toronto. |