Unaffordable and Unsustainable, NASA’s failing Earth-to-orbit Transportation Strategy |
Unaffordable and Unsustainable, NASA’s failing Earth-to-orbit Transportation Strategy |
Guest_DonPMitchell_* |
Jul 25 2006, 04:11 AM
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Guests |
The Space Frontier Foundation has gotten a lot of attention from the mainstream press with their latest Whitepaper.
They advocate a more extensive support fo free enterprise and entrepreneurship in the American space program. They suggest that NASA should no longer be allowed to develop and own new launch vehicles, and that CEV and CLV development should be cancelled. They also advise that NASA rely on Altas 5 and Delta 4 rockets, and transfer more funding to the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services program. I cannot find the actual white paper on the SFF website. I don't know if SFF is particularly professional (certainly their gaudy website doesn't look it), but I have to agree with some of their points. |
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Guest_DonPMitchell_* |
Aug 5 2006, 09:06 AM
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#2
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Guests |
Some of these effects are more important than others. At sea level on the equator, you get a tangential velocity of 0.464 km/sec from the Earth's rotation. If you started on a mountain 8 kilometers high, you would only get 0.5 m/sec more velocity. So altitude is irrelevant. Also, google reveals that Sangay is a very active volcano, which I think we would catagorize as a "logistic concern". :-)
Cape Canaveral is at 28 degrees latitude, so it gets 0.410 km/sec of velocity boost. Only 50 m/sec less than the Equator, which isn't really very important. What is important is that you cannot launch into an initial orbit with an inclination less than 28 degrees. The Russians and Americans do multiple-burn maneuvers to get into less inclined orbits. Evidently the most efficent maneuver is to increase the apogee, then at apogee fire perpendicular to the orbital plane to change its angle, and then reduce the apogee. |
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