[AR] lifting bodies (was Re: ESAS Safety Concerns about Small SRMs)
- From: Henry Spencer <hspencer@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: Arocket List <arocket@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 17 Apr 2018 14:39:39 -0400 (EDT)
On Tue, 17 Apr 2018, John Stoffel wrote:
Would it be better to use some other areostructure to help counter
that lifting (bending really) moment, instead of going full bore into
a shroud? And you only really need it for what, the first three
minutes or so? And they less you throw away each time... the less
there is to replace and build anew.
On the other hand, if you can fit under the standard payload shroud, it's
not a complicated or particularly costly piece of hardware (as such things
go), and a closed cylindrical shape can be pretty lightweight and still be
strong and stiff, and it's available off the shelf. Adding your own
partial fairing is sure to cost more up front, both in development cost
and in re-qualifying the launcher for the new aerodynamic shape. You'd
have to look hard at how much it gained you.
(Even a need for an escape option doesn't preclude a shroud, although it
would require a custom design -- Soyuz launches under a shroud.) (The
Soyuz escape system pulls the reentry capsule *plus* everything above it
away from the launcher, and then the capsule separates from the
everything-above-it assembly.)
Henry
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