Oh...my God it lives! The C-heap shuttle

NUKE ROCKY44 · Senior Member

Oh...my God it lives! The C-heap shuttle

GoogleNaut · Guru

Strangely enough, this is probably one of the more realistic and short term less expensive options out there...

However, I'd say that the level of commitment to the Aries I "Stick" is just about total at this point. However, NASA hasn't actually put a cutting torch to the Pad 39A complex yet, it is supposed to be happening now...Ares I-X is less than a year away, if you can believe the shedule.

Still, I think Ares V/VI is a substantially new vehicle that will be pretty costly...the "Shuttle-(kind of)C" concept may be a different way to go.

On a side note, I just completed some of the first stress analyses for my Antares VI/VII vehicle: and the liquid oxygen tank looks like it is going to be just about 42,400 kg, empty. That should put the core tank structure in the ball park of 100,000-120,000 kg, first guess. I alotted 200,000 kg, so this should some in well below that. I am pretty pleased so far!

NUKE ROCKY44 · Senior Member

...maybe they could have 2 launch systems.

So Googlenaut, that's the tanks 100,000-120,000 kg filled with liquid oxygen or H2?

You could manufacture gases on Mars or planetary moon containing water ice and store gases in underground dewars of H2 and O2.

GoogleNaut · Guru

120,000-150,000 kg Empty tank mass. Wet mass (with full load of 2,833 m^3 of liquid Oxygen, 2,833 m^3 of liquid hydrogen) will be right around: 3.7 million kilograms.

I have some mixed feelings about Shuttle-C type launch vehicles--even though it preserves much of the infrastructure that could be lost, part of the reason for the high cost of the space shuttle is that very same infrastructure cost.

As far as using vehicle tanks for surface fluid storage--sure it could be done. However, being an aluminum lithium alloy, I suspect that corrosion could be a problem, especially in contact with the salty soils of Mars...however, with cryogenic fluids inside, and cold and mostly dry ground...I don't know--this may be a complete non-issue.

One of the things that I am interested in is using the tanks for the storage of water--and this may infact not be a good idea with aluminum lithium alloy--internal corosion may be a big problem. Water from comets may contain a significant variety of salts and organic acids such as hypochlorites, acetic acid, cyanides...which would no doubt be pretty corossive to aluminum-lithium. It may be necessary to use a different alloy altogether (which would affect the tank design, ultimately) or use somekind of sprayable plastic liner...

But that's a little off topic! :)

-- Edited by GoogleNaut on Friday 10th of July 2009 09:04:28 PM

-- Edited by GoogleNaut on Saturday 11th of July 2009 08:45:29 AM