Mmm… a New American Spaceship on the Pad; like Apollo or like Starliner?

[fizzy]

That's all well and good.

However the USofA went to the moon, landed on the moon, took golf clubs and a CAR to drive around on the moon, and then brought the people all back safely.

Decades Ago.....

Without CAD.......

Exactly. As a kid I said the Shuttle was a backwards step

 

[Gragson]

like i said nasa is morons

 

[Erie Fred]

Exactly. As a kid I said the Shuttle was a backwards step

I thought when it first came out, that the shuttle airplane was to take the shuttle as high as possible, drop the shuttle, at which time it would fly into space, saving the large expense of a rocket.

 

[daleyd]

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

I thought when it first came out, that the shuttle airplane

I watched a programme ages ago and they were saying the shuttle design got compromised by having to fulfill too many objectives.

Who would have thought that disney had the right design all along!

 

[Morris]

Looking a lot like 2001, a Space Odyssey. Where's HAL?

He can't build that Dave.

 

[gaz1]

with the round shape just about everything on the iss can be used with 4 sections that are sealed if compartments fail there is others to use

each country can have a crew in each quarter of the space station with extra moduls on the outer rings can also be used for space walks as well connections to the shuttle or even have a docking stations via the 4 points of the round circle

compared to the iss which really is a poor substitute which yet again can trap astronauts like has happened before makes it much better for access and repairs when needed and because its not long if small holes form in the pods the iss is a death trap compared to the ring because of its multi seals and multi sections

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

What ever happened to the idea of a spinning ring to create artificial gravity. That was always in the scifi films 30+ years ago.

 

[Morris]

Larry Niven's Ringworld. Trouble is it is unstable.

 

[Morris]

Yorkshire earlier today.

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

The Dyson sphere was a very interesting concept too....nothing to do with vacuums!

 

[Morris]

The Dyson sphere was a very interesting concept too....nothing to do with vacuums!

Also unstable.

 

[Morris]

To the stars!

 

[Wozzaaah]

Gaz and his crew.

 

[Robotstar5]

View attachment 527295
Gaz and his crew.

"Got any dags?" they get everywhere

 

[gaz1]

What ever happened to the idea of a spinning ring to create artificial gravity. That was always in the scifi films 30+ years ago.

they can create a spinning ring rather easily the issue is the seal between the rings and spinning item until theres a force field the spinning ring still needs space suits to get across the spinning systems with door seals between them

the spining reference helps to keep muscles as well as aiding if anyone receives cuts or bruises or life threatening issues without it they become issues in long term flights

 

[Ross365]

I thought when it first came out, that the shuttle airplane was to take the shuttle as high as possible, drop the shuttle, at which time it would fly into space, saving the large expense of a rocket.

Nixon wouldn't stump up the cash. In desperation, NASA agreed to a deal with a DoD requirement that it should able to launch spy sats, but that was a terrible compromise to the design and difficult to achieve. Then they went with solid rocket motors (cheap), but previously considered too dangerous for manned spaceflight.

The very first time the solid rocket motor was static-test fired on the ground (and long before teh Shuttle started flying), they realised the design of the (5) joints was poor. Nobody had ever attempted joints like that before. They just did not have the time or money to re-design due to political pressures.

All that said, good management of the flights and the losses might have been avoided. The Shuttle was betrayed by a few bad people. The re-designed joints, flown after Challenger, seem (?) to be ...improved? The problem with solids is that once lit, impossible to shut down. Shut down of a liquid propelled engine just by closing valves. At least one liquid engine on an Saturn, launching Apollo, was shut down and compensated for by the other engines running longer.

I notice that Elon has stayed clear of solid rocket motors, especially jointed ones. He uses dozens of "small" liquid rockets on his launchers; usually, with the odd 1 or 2 failures; no problem.

 

[Tinbasherdan]

Nixon wouldn't stump up the cash. In desperation, NASA agreed to a deal with a DoD requirement that it should able to launch spy sats, but that was a terrible compromise to the design and difficult to achieve. Then they went with solid rocket motors (cheap), but previously considered too dangerous for manned spaceflight.

The very first time the solid rocket motor was static-test fired on the ground (and long before teh Shuttle started flying), they realised the design of the (5) joints was poor. Nobody had ever attempted joints like that before. They just did not have the time or money to re-design due to political pressures.

All that said, good management of the flights and the losses might have been avoided. The Shuttle was betrayed by a few bad people. The re-designed joints, flown after Challenger, seem (?) to be ...improved? The problem with solids is that once lit, impossible to shut down. Shut down of a liquid propelled engine just by closing valves. At least one liquid engine on an Saturn, launching Apollo, was shut down and compensated for by the other engines running longer.

I notice that Elon has stayed clear of solid rocket motors, especially jointed ones. He uses dozens of "small" liquid rockets on his launchers; usually, with the odd 1 or 2 failures; no problem.

More than a few bad eggs. NASA and Morton thiokol were full of yes men and people pleasers who sacrificed safety for likes, and killed 14 people

 

[Ross365]

Six landings on the Moon and the recovery of Apollo13 was not done with an Agency "full" of people pleasers. How many Shuttle flights were stunning successes? 133 of 135.

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

I think separating cargo and people is probably the way to go...that way the people vehicles can be made very safe with zero compromises.

I was doing some work in texas (10+years age)....visited the Apollo museum where they had a Saturn V in a warehouse....the size of the thing is staggering!