Archibald
Banned
«Our motto was - Mars by 1965, and Saturn by 1970. Also, interstellar travel at 10% of the speed of light - to Proxima Centauri in 50 years. » (Freeman Dyson)
Five
Four
Three
Two
One
Ignition !
Three solid rocket boosters awoke into life as explosive bolts released the big stack from the launch pad. Each solid was 5 million pound of thrust, and there were three of them. A bone-white pilar of flame was visible dozens of miles away. It was so bright, like a nascent sun, than Florida blue sky seemed to fade to black. Huge accoustic waves shook the ground, flattening everything standing within a 3 miles radius. Seismometers detected vibrations as far away as Canada.
For all their raw, immense power, Aerojet 260-inch solid-fueled boosters were pretty primitive, of direct legacy from Chinese rocketry spanning two milleniums. This was in marked contrast with the payload they carried –somewhat a marriage of ancient and advanced rocket technology.
Only two minutes in the flight were the big solids exhausted. Explosive bolts severed them from the main spacecraft they had carried high and fast, boring a hole into Earth thick atmosphere, climbing upwards against Earth deep gravity well.
Now flying solo with their thrust dying fast, the solids peaked 40 miles high and then fell back, tumbling through Earth atmosphere. Large chutes deployed, softening the impact with the Atlantic ocean, where tug ships awaited them. The large solids would be cleaned up, checked, filled with solid fuel not unlike fertilizer, and fired again.
Meanwhile a spectacular show happened high above Earth, where the solids had delivered a mammoth spacecraft like never seen before.
Pop, pop, pop. Small nuclear bombs – shaped atomic charges – popped out the ship end, falling behind for a brief instant.
All of sudden all hell broke loose as the atomic charges exploded all together. BLAM, BLAM, BLAM - the raw, brute energy of the nuclear blasts was shaped upwards, in the direction of the so-called pusher plate, a fat disk made of heavy steel. The brute force of the blasts pushed the plate upwards, with most of the energy channeled into shock absorbers linked to the main ship above. The spacecraft as a whole leaped upwards in brutal hops. Higher and higher, faster and faster it flew, with loads of tiny nukes popping out and exploding below the pusher plate.
At first glance the basic principle sounded outrageously absurd, but it actually worked pretty well. It was like teenagers setting up fireworks below a tuna can, the explosives shooting the tin can into the air. Within minutes the Orion space battleship had blasted through the atmosphere and made his way into a low Earth orbit. Alas, stringent safety rules had prevented any crew and passengers flying with the thing, so they would have to be carried all the way from Earth surface to Orion.
Entered ROMBUS, the Reusable Orbital Module-Booster & Utility Shuttle. Philip Bono work had paid; global rocket transportation was growing fast. Passengers were flown all the way from London to Sidney within less than an hour. Platoons of Space Marines were ferried to «hot spots» all over Earth surface within less than an hour. So did high value cargo.
ROMBUS was shaped like some ungainly tin can. To make single stage to orbit easier, only liquid oxygen was carried internally. Liquid hydrogen was carried in eight external tanks jettisoned in pairs as ROMBUS pressed into orbit. ROMBUS size was enormous, and it could carry no less than one million pounds into orbit. Today most of that payload was passengers, crews, and supplies. ROMBUS massive annular aerospike fired, and the large craft got itself out of the ground and into Orion orbit.
Meanwhile another spectacular show was happening in the ocean, far from the Florida cost. The nuclear aircraft carrier CVN-65 Enterprise was carrying (solidly strapped on its deck) an ungainly steel cylinder – the Sea Dragon monster rocket, brainchild of maverick engineer Robert Truax. The complete vehicle was 23 m in diameter and 150 m long, somewhat half the size of USS Enterprise itself. Haunling and strapping that beast onto the deck had been a painstaking effort, but now Enterprise was sailing at 20 knots to a point far away from the eastern seaboard.
Sea Dragon was a battleship rocket just like Orion was a battleship spacecraft. They were both build from forged, heavy steel, a material much cheaper than the usual aerospace light aluminium alliages. Sea Dragon had a mind-boggling diameter of 75 feet, a little less than ROMBUS 78 feet. That interesting coincidence (Phil Bono and Bob Truax worked independantly) had resulted in «standardized space containers» that could be launched by either Sea Dragon or ROMBUS, greatly slashing cost of space logistics.
Unlike ROMBUS that shed tanks on the way to orbit, Sea Dragon was shaped like a classic two-stage rocket. The first stage had a single pressure-fed, thrust chamber of 36 million kgf thrust, burning LOX/Kerosene. The second stage was ‘considerably smaller' (thrust only 6.35 million kgf!) and burned LOX/LH2.
Enterprise now settled in the middle of the ocean. The gargantuan Sea Dragon was erected vertically on the flight deck thanks to a big crane. Then the rocket was fuelled with RP-1 – kerosene. Enterprise usually carried a large amount of kerosene to fuel its air wing; with the aircrafts away, these fuel tanks were used to fill the Sea Dragon that stood erect on the flight deck. Once filled with kerosene, the Sea Dragon was slowly lowered into the water, on the side of the aircraft carrier.
Then Enterprise eight A2W nuclear reactors come into play. The ship didn't moved by an inch in the water, with all nuclear energy aboard now used to split water (electrolysis) into liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen that would complete Sea Dragon fuel load. It would take hours, if not days, to fill the monster rocket that sat deeper and deeper into the ocean. Underwater engine start was not an issue but a bonanza. Sea Dragon enormous energy at launch could have shaken even the mighty Enterprise, playing havoc with the ship delicate electronics and superstructures.
Using an aircraft carrier to launch rockets was quite an audacious idea, to say the least. The nuclear hydrolysis process used to fill Sea Dragon stage 2 had been developed for ROMBUS smaller brothers that ferried the space marines. Philip Bono had suggested that the combination of nuclear aircraft carriers and global rocket transports should provide an incredible flexibility, even more when rocket propellant was split from ocean water thanks to the carrier nuclear machinery. It was an incredibly potent alliance between sea and space respective oceans.
Interestingly enough, just like the 23 ft diameter «standardized space containers» , the Enterprise nuclear electrolysis system was common to both Sea Dragon stage 2 and ROMBUS. That way the two rocket transport systems worked in symbiosis.
This day Sea Dragon had a peculiar mission. It was to carry one million pounds of small nukes to the Orion awaiting in Earth orbit. Once again, safety rules had Orion carrying the minimum possible nukes, barely enough to haul itself into a low Earth orbit. Obviously more nukes would be needed to break from Earth gravity well and press into the solar system and beyond. Interestingly enough USS Enterprise crew used to handle tactical nuclear bombs strapped to its strike aircrafts, and that valuable experience was not lost. The nukes were tightly packaged into a 75 ft diameter container that was strapped to Sea Dragon stage 2.
Sea Dragon all-up weight was now 18,000 metric tons, and it was ready for launch. After the crew checked the big launch vehicle one last time, Enterprise prudently backed away by a dozen miles.
Then countdown reached zero.
Stunned Enterprise sailors saw the monster rocket shoot out of the water like a bat outa hell. The crew sheered as the battleship rocket accelerated fast on a bone-white immense mass of light and energy, on the way to Orion. Minutes later the first stage had done its job and fell back into the Atlantic ocean, where Enterprise would recover it. The second stage and its dangerous load rocketed into Earth orbit to meet the waiting Orion.
It happened that a ROMBUS ferrying supplies was also closing in from Orion. For a brief instant all three spacecraft lined up in orbit – Sea Dragon stage 2, ROMBUS and Orion. It was a fantastic show, straight out sci-fi.
Soon Orion would rocket out of Earth gravity, to Mars, Saturn moons, or even beyond. Mankind conquest of space was only beginning.
Five
Four
Three
Two
One
Ignition !
Three solid rocket boosters awoke into life as explosive bolts released the big stack from the launch pad. Each solid was 5 million pound of thrust, and there were three of them. A bone-white pilar of flame was visible dozens of miles away. It was so bright, like a nascent sun, than Florida blue sky seemed to fade to black. Huge accoustic waves shook the ground, flattening everything standing within a 3 miles radius. Seismometers detected vibrations as far away as Canada.
For all their raw, immense power, Aerojet 260-inch solid-fueled boosters were pretty primitive, of direct legacy from Chinese rocketry spanning two milleniums. This was in marked contrast with the payload they carried –somewhat a marriage of ancient and advanced rocket technology.
Only two minutes in the flight were the big solids exhausted. Explosive bolts severed them from the main spacecraft they had carried high and fast, boring a hole into Earth thick atmosphere, climbing upwards against Earth deep gravity well.
Now flying solo with their thrust dying fast, the solids peaked 40 miles high and then fell back, tumbling through Earth atmosphere. Large chutes deployed, softening the impact with the Atlantic ocean, where tug ships awaited them. The large solids would be cleaned up, checked, filled with solid fuel not unlike fertilizer, and fired again.
Meanwhile a spectacular show happened high above Earth, where the solids had delivered a mammoth spacecraft like never seen before.
Pop, pop, pop. Small nuclear bombs – shaped atomic charges – popped out the ship end, falling behind for a brief instant.
All of sudden all hell broke loose as the atomic charges exploded all together. BLAM, BLAM, BLAM - the raw, brute energy of the nuclear blasts was shaped upwards, in the direction of the so-called pusher plate, a fat disk made of heavy steel. The brute force of the blasts pushed the plate upwards, with most of the energy channeled into shock absorbers linked to the main ship above. The spacecraft as a whole leaped upwards in brutal hops. Higher and higher, faster and faster it flew, with loads of tiny nukes popping out and exploding below the pusher plate.
At first glance the basic principle sounded outrageously absurd, but it actually worked pretty well. It was like teenagers setting up fireworks below a tuna can, the explosives shooting the tin can into the air. Within minutes the Orion space battleship had blasted through the atmosphere and made his way into a low Earth orbit. Alas, stringent safety rules had prevented any crew and passengers flying with the thing, so they would have to be carried all the way from Earth surface to Orion.
Entered ROMBUS, the Reusable Orbital Module-Booster & Utility Shuttle. Philip Bono work had paid; global rocket transportation was growing fast. Passengers were flown all the way from London to Sidney within less than an hour. Platoons of Space Marines were ferried to «hot spots» all over Earth surface within less than an hour. So did high value cargo.
ROMBUS was shaped like some ungainly tin can. To make single stage to orbit easier, only liquid oxygen was carried internally. Liquid hydrogen was carried in eight external tanks jettisoned in pairs as ROMBUS pressed into orbit. ROMBUS size was enormous, and it could carry no less than one million pounds into orbit. Today most of that payload was passengers, crews, and supplies. ROMBUS massive annular aerospike fired, and the large craft got itself out of the ground and into Orion orbit.
Meanwhile another spectacular show was happening in the ocean, far from the Florida cost. The nuclear aircraft carrier CVN-65 Enterprise was carrying (solidly strapped on its deck) an ungainly steel cylinder – the Sea Dragon monster rocket, brainchild of maverick engineer Robert Truax. The complete vehicle was 23 m in diameter and 150 m long, somewhat half the size of USS Enterprise itself. Haunling and strapping that beast onto the deck had been a painstaking effort, but now Enterprise was sailing at 20 knots to a point far away from the eastern seaboard.
Sea Dragon was a battleship rocket just like Orion was a battleship spacecraft. They were both build from forged, heavy steel, a material much cheaper than the usual aerospace light aluminium alliages. Sea Dragon had a mind-boggling diameter of 75 feet, a little less than ROMBUS 78 feet. That interesting coincidence (Phil Bono and Bob Truax worked independantly) had resulted in «standardized space containers» that could be launched by either Sea Dragon or ROMBUS, greatly slashing cost of space logistics.
Unlike ROMBUS that shed tanks on the way to orbit, Sea Dragon was shaped like a classic two-stage rocket. The first stage had a single pressure-fed, thrust chamber of 36 million kgf thrust, burning LOX/Kerosene. The second stage was ‘considerably smaller' (thrust only 6.35 million kgf!) and burned LOX/LH2.
Enterprise now settled in the middle of the ocean. The gargantuan Sea Dragon was erected vertically on the flight deck thanks to a big crane. Then the rocket was fuelled with RP-1 – kerosene. Enterprise usually carried a large amount of kerosene to fuel its air wing; with the aircrafts away, these fuel tanks were used to fill the Sea Dragon that stood erect on the flight deck. Once filled with kerosene, the Sea Dragon was slowly lowered into the water, on the side of the aircraft carrier.
Then Enterprise eight A2W nuclear reactors come into play. The ship didn't moved by an inch in the water, with all nuclear energy aboard now used to split water (electrolysis) into liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen that would complete Sea Dragon fuel load. It would take hours, if not days, to fill the monster rocket that sat deeper and deeper into the ocean. Underwater engine start was not an issue but a bonanza. Sea Dragon enormous energy at launch could have shaken even the mighty Enterprise, playing havoc with the ship delicate electronics and superstructures.
Using an aircraft carrier to launch rockets was quite an audacious idea, to say the least. The nuclear hydrolysis process used to fill Sea Dragon stage 2 had been developed for ROMBUS smaller brothers that ferried the space marines. Philip Bono had suggested that the combination of nuclear aircraft carriers and global rocket transports should provide an incredible flexibility, even more when rocket propellant was split from ocean water thanks to the carrier nuclear machinery. It was an incredibly potent alliance between sea and space respective oceans.
Interestingly enough, just like the 23 ft diameter «standardized space containers» , the Enterprise nuclear electrolysis system was common to both Sea Dragon stage 2 and ROMBUS. That way the two rocket transport systems worked in symbiosis.
This day Sea Dragon had a peculiar mission. It was to carry one million pounds of small nukes to the Orion awaiting in Earth orbit. Once again, safety rules had Orion carrying the minimum possible nukes, barely enough to haul itself into a low Earth orbit. Obviously more nukes would be needed to break from Earth gravity well and press into the solar system and beyond. Interestingly enough USS Enterprise crew used to handle tactical nuclear bombs strapped to its strike aircrafts, and that valuable experience was not lost. The nukes were tightly packaged into a 75 ft diameter container that was strapped to Sea Dragon stage 2.
Sea Dragon all-up weight was now 18,000 metric tons, and it was ready for launch. After the crew checked the big launch vehicle one last time, Enterprise prudently backed away by a dozen miles.
Then countdown reached zero.
Stunned Enterprise sailors saw the monster rocket shoot out of the water like a bat outa hell. The crew sheered as the battleship rocket accelerated fast on a bone-white immense mass of light and energy, on the way to Orion. Minutes later the first stage had done its job and fell back into the Atlantic ocean, where Enterprise would recover it. The second stage and its dangerous load rocketed into Earth orbit to meet the waiting Orion.
It happened that a ROMBUS ferrying supplies was also closing in from Orion. For a brief instant all three spacecraft lined up in orbit – Sea Dragon stage 2, ROMBUS and Orion. It was a fantastic show, straight out sci-fi.
Soon Orion would rocket out of Earth gravity, to Mars, Saturn moons, or even beyond. Mankind conquest of space was only beginning.
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