Re: "Rockets not carrying fuel" for orbital transfer.

From: Aidan Karley (aidan_at_mynameplus1.demon.co.uk.invalid)
Date: 11/14/04 

Date: Sun, 14 Nov 2004 03:42:54 GMT

In article <832ea96d.0411131610.56bb195e@posting.google.com>, Robert
Clark wrote:
> Take a look at the image on this page:
>
> Large Diamonds Made From Gas Are The Hardest Yet.
> http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/02/040226070311.htm
>
       The text is much more interesting than the picture. (The only
diamond I've ever brought was uncut. Why spoil a very interesting
crystal by cutting lumps off it?)
       Hmm. So there have been significant advances in diamond
manufacture techniques in the years since I last tried getting a job in
that industry. Fine.
       And just what are you going to do with your diamond pipes?
Design a very strong but very RIGID pipe? I don't see where that's
going to help you very much. You're still going to have to deploy it,
which is either going to need several hundred kilometers of deployment
site, or you're going to have to find some way to coil it and un-coil
it. Using the diamond material to make a "space elevator" would
probably be a *lot* easier.
       About the only vaguely plausible situation I can see for your
"pipe the fuel to the rocket" thesis would be in pumping fuel into the
tanks of a rocket in the 10-15 seconds it takes to clear the launch
tower. You *might* get a pay-off of decreased stack weight because you
don't have to accelerate the whole dead weight of the fuel load from
scratch. BUT that would be at the risk of a complex, high volume
interconnect that would need to detach instantly and totally reliably,
and seal off both sides of the interconnect sufficiently to keep the
fuel and oxidiser separate in the firey mess that is a launch.
       I've actually used such "zero volume" disconnects, which are
rated to 5000psi. For a 6mm bore, the disconnect's overall diameter is
about 30mm and they weigh around 100g. Scale appropriately. (Oh, and
they're quite fiddley to operate - take several seconds to disconnect.)
        

-- 
 Aidan Karley,
 Aberdeen, Scotland,
 Location: 57°10'11" N,  02°08'43"  W (sub-tropical Aberdeen), 0.021233

Relevant Pages

  • Re: "Rockets not carrying fuel" for orbital transfer.
    ... Using the diamond material to make a "space elevator" would ... "pipe the fuel to the rocket" thesis would be in pumping fuel into the ... You *might* get a pay-off of decreased stack weight because you ... fuel and oxidiser separate in the firey mess that is a launch. ...
    (sci.astro)
  • Re: "Rockets not carrying fuel" for orbital transfer.
    ... Using the diamond material to make a "space elevator" would ... "pipe the fuel to the rocket" thesis would be in pumping fuel into the ... You *might* get a pay-off of decreased stack weight because you ... fuel and oxidiser separate in the firey mess that is a launch. ...
    (sci.space.policy)