|
Author
|
Topic: Next gen reusable winged shuttle-type vehicle
|
Paul78zephyr
Member Posts: 675
From: Hudson, MA
Registered: Jul 2005
|
posted 04-29-2008 12:30 PM
  
Does NASA have any plans for a follow on reusable winged shuttle type vehicle?Thanks,
Paul |
garymilgrom
Member Posts: 1966
From: Atlanta, GA
Registered: Feb 2007
|
posted 04-29-2008 02:07 PM
No. I believe we will never see another vehicle like the Shuttle because NASA will never again locate a manned spacecraft anywhere except at the top of the launch stack to avoid falling debris problems. |
ejectr
Member Posts: 1751
From: Killingly, CT
Registered: Mar 2002
|
posted 04-29-2008 05:41 PM
I believe the Dyna Soar was designed to be mounted at the top of the stack, wasn't it? |
cspg
Member Posts: 6210
From: Geneva, Switzerland
Registered: May 2006
|
posted 04-30-2008 08:39 AM
Much like Hermes/Ariane 5 (France), Hope/H-2 (Japan) and Kliper (Russia).Chris. |
kr4mula
Member Posts: 642
From: Cinci, OH
Registered: Mar 2006
|
posted 04-30-2008 11:49 AM
Wings are most useful on a reusable-type spacecraft. With the end of shuttle and the current system plans, NASA has all but exited the reusable spacecraft game. In an interesting switch, it's now the Air Force who has more interest in that technology. You'll be more likely to see some sort of winged spacecraft come from them than NASA - kind of like going back to the future when NASa had capsules and the AF had Dyna-Soar. And don't forget, it was AF requirements that drove the wing size on the current shuttle.Cheers, Kevin |
mjanovec
Member Posts: 3811
From: Midwest, USA
Registered: Jul 2005
|
posted 04-30-2008 11:59 AM
quote:
Originally posted by kr4mula:
Wings are most useful on a reusable-type spacecraft. With the end of shuttle and the current system plans, NASA has all but exited the reusable spacecraft game.
I thought the Orion capsules were supposed to be re-usable...at least for a limited number of missions per capsule. Does anyone know if this has changed? |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 42988
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
|
posted 04-30-2008 12:09 PM
quote:
Originally posted by mjanovec:
I thought the Orion capsules were supposed to be re-usable...at least for a limited number of missions per capsule.
Orion was originally intended to be reusable, and parts of it may still be, but when the plans for the primary landing approach switched from land to water, it became much more difficult to service and re-fly. |
Jay Chladek
Member Posts: 2272
From: Bellevue, NE, USA
Registered: Aug 2007
|
posted 05-01-2008 11:01 PM
I did ask Roger Lanius from the Smithsonian about it a few months back. He says there are still quite a few NASA engineers that still think a vehicle with wings is the way to go for long term space ops in Earth orbit. So although there are no CURRENT plans for a winged space vehicle to replace shuttle, given a few years when (and if) Orion starts flying and the moon missions seem more likely, then the a NASA administration down the road will probably bring up plans for a second generation shuttle type vehicle with wings.In the meantime NASA has been awarding development contracts to private space firms for work on a privatized cargo/astronaut ferry capability to the ISS. Until recently, one of the contenders was "Silver Dart," a project that would have revived the Lockheed FDL-7, a stub winged craft that was born out of the lifting body projects, same as shuttle was. |
kr4mula
Member Posts: 642
From: Cinci, OH
Registered: Mar 2006
|
posted 05-02-2008 12:12 PM
Roger's right - wings make more sense for something coming and going through the Earth's atmosphere regularly, but are just dead weight on a vehicle spending a long time in space, say going to and from the Moon.FYI, the FDL-7 was designed and made (in models for wind tunnels and such, never flown as such) by the Air Force Flight Dynamics Lab (thus its "FDL" designation) at Wright-Patterson AFB. Its design was the basis for the X-24B, which was the semi-delta version of the Martin Marietta-built X-24A. That's now sitting at the Air Force Museum at Wright-Patt. AFAIK, Lockheed wasn't involved with either X-24. I hadn't heard that NASA was looking at the design again. It's funny that they were interested in the X-24B because the old Crew Return Vehicle designed at JSC was a re-scaled version of the X-24A. Cheers, Kevin |
Jay Chladek
Member Posts: 2272
From: Bellevue, NE, USA
Registered: Aug 2007
|
posted 05-02-2008 02:43 PM
NASA itself wasn't looking at the design internally. The project came from PlanetSpace in Canada and they submitted it as a proposal for the commercial ISS resupply craft. |
advertisement