Nh - The Launch Thread, Godspeed little one Options

[djellison]

I thought it was time, with the Atlas V about to roll out - for a new thread for NH for the launch etc.

Someone asked over at the HZ just how NH can go so fast, this was my reply....

How do you get a spacecraft to Jupiter in under a year? Easy. Make it very very light, and put it on a very very big rocket. The config of Atlas V rocket being used to launch NH (551 - 5m fairing, 5 solids, and one engine on the Centaur stage ) would typically put 8,670kg into GTO or 20,520 into LEO.
New Horizons is 478kg, and it's Star 48B 3rd stage is 2,137kg - so instead of hauling 20 tons, this vehicle is hauling about 2.5 tons thus you get a HUGE velocity out of it. AND, once it's done that, you have the final kick of the 48B, 591 thousand kgs-s (thus accelerating is all a further 3.5 - 4km/s ball park speed, if my maths is right)
At launch - the vehicle is 573,160kg. NH is 0.083% of it.
Imagine the Apollo entry capsule on top of a Saturn V...tiny tiny tiny... that was 5,800 kg on a 3,038,500kg rocket - 0.191% - more than double that percentage of NH. The cutaway's are almost comical, with this tiny gold-clad box on an enormous vehicle.
Basically - it's a LOT of rocket, and not a lot of payload.
For comparison, look how much fuss was made of Stardust that entered so quickly. It took >16 hrs to get from the distance of the moon to Utah. NH makes that journey in 9 hours
One thing the NH mission is not short of, is superlatives.

I'm not one for good luck charms (although I'll eat peanuts during a Martian EDL with the best of them), but this mission has been so long in coming, that it deserves every ounce of luck it can have - the best, most accurate launch possible, the cleanest checkout, and incident free cruise to Jupiter.

Goodluck and Godspeed little one, we're with you every step of the way.

Doug
PS - Alan, you're a credit to your field, spending so much time answering questions and writing the PI Perspectives, it's been a hell of a journey!

[helvick]

I think it just LOOKS like it's copper clad. iirc

You must be right, copper is far too dense and weak, but it really looks awfully like a a large welded copper tank. An aluminium\copper alloy ?

Looks lovely I must say, a proper hunk of metal.

[mchan]

How do you get a spacecraft to Jupiter in under a year?

A bit of editorial stretch there.

[djellison]

That was the actual line I quoted from the previous poster - I know, you know, and we all know it's 13 months


Right





I'll admit it - when I saw that pic, I thought "Hell - that's a hot water tank"

Doug

[Airbag]

dumb ? time.  Why is the first stage copper clad?

Probably an alumin(i)um/lithium alloy.

Airbag

[MahFL]

The first stage tank is Copper Anodised Aluminium.

" Anodising successfully combines science with nature to create one of nature's best metal finishes.

It is an electrochemical process that thickens and toughens the naturally occurring protective oxide. The resulting finish, depending on the process, is the second hardest substance known to man, second only to diamond"

[mchan]

The first stage tank is Copper Anodised Aluminium.

" Anodising successfully combines science with nature to create one of nature's best metal finishes.

It is an electrochemical process that thickens and toughens the naturally occurring protective oxide. The resulting finish, depending on the process, is the second hardest substance known to man, second only to diamond"

"Copper" anodized aluminum? I understand the anodizing process leaves a bonded coating of aluminum oxide. Is copper used as a descriptive adjective here, or is there actually copper involved?

[mcaplinger]

"Copper" anodized aluminum?  I understand the anodizing process leaves a bonded coating of aluminum oxide.  Is copper used as a descriptive adjective here, or is there actually copper involved?

You can add dyes during the anodizing process and get most any color you like, but as I said before, I think it's more likely that the booster is chromate-conversion coated, because that would leave you with a natural golden-coppery color. But I couldn't find any confirmation in the Atlas documents I looked at. I can say for sure they didn't make the stage out of any AlBe or AlLi alloy, though.

[mars loon]

To Pluto and BEYOND !!!

at last !!!!



and for those who missed it, The Science Channel Documentary on sunday night was quite enjoyable and there are a few more repeats. Here is a brief summary from my other thread.

----------------------------------------------------

The Discovery Science Channel is showing a documentary on the New Horizons mission which premieres on Sunday, Jan 15 at 9PM

check this link:

http://science.discovery.com/tvlistings/ep...d=0&channel=SCI

Synopsis:

Passport to Pluto

NASA's New Horizons mission is exploring the "new frontier" of the outer reaches of our solar system, solving the mysteries of Pluto and beyond. Meet the scientists who have waited their whole lives for this mission and see what surprises they'll reveal

[Tesheiner]

Here is NH on top of the booster.
Good luck!



(Hope I did my math correctly...)

[edstrick]

Uh....

Would somebody explain to me how they have 3 solid rocket strapons on one side of the booster and 2 on the other side.. and not have the launch vehicle go "TILT" during flight?.. I think they're firing all 5 at the same time... I'd assumed a evenly spaced "star" pattern for the strapons, but they don't have'm that way.

[MahFL]

This link has some good info on the Atlas. I may have misquoted about the copper...

"The Atlas common core is made out of aluminum with an anodizing process for protection which gives it its characteristic bronze color."

http://www.interspacenews.com/sections/fea...nch_vehicle.htm

[djellison]

Uh....

Would somebody explain to me how they have 3 solid rocket strapons on one side of the booster and 2 on the other side.. and not have the launch vehicle go "TILT" during flight?.. I think they're firing all 5 at the same time...  I'd assumed a evenly spaced "star" pattern for the strapons, but they don't have'm that way.

I thought that - but they could have angled nozzles on the solids to put the thrust direction in such a way whereby it all cancels out, and/or use the RD180 to compensate.

If you were to roll 180 degrees, you could use the thrust of the SRB's to pitch over

Doug

[ugordan]

Would somebody explain to me how they have 3 solid rocket strapons on one side of the booster and 2 on the other side.. and not have the launch vehicle go "TILT" during flight?.. I think they're firing all 5 at the same time...  I'd assumed a evenly spaced "star" pattern for the strapons, but they don't have'm that way.

It's because every booster's thrust vector is aligned to go through the center of mass of the vehicle. That way no rolling torque is induced, only sideways translation at worst (if one of the boosters under/overperforms or something, inducing translation, which can probably be perfectly well compensated for by the main engine gibals). A similar situation is present with the space shuttle, once the SRBs jettison, the 3 SSMEs need to gimbal to adjust the thrust through the new center of mass.

[Bill Harris]

Good cut-away image, Tesheiner. That puts the spacecraft size into perspective.

Still, it seems to me that the thrust vectors from two boosters would add up to be different than three boosters and the thrust would be uneven. But, heck, I'm just a geologist and they know what they're doing, so I won't fret about it.

I saw Alan Stern on NBC news this morning, in an interview about NH. Just before the nuclear protesters...

--Bill

[ugordan]

The thrust vectors do add up differently, but as long as they go through the center of mass, no torque is exerted.

Seems like the weather report is steadily becoming less and less favorable. Currently the conditions are "mostly cloudy" (degraded from "partly cloudy") and the wind is picking up, currently at 15 km/h.

What exactly are the launch constraints concerning the wind speed?