Re: Succesful Brazilian launch

From: HAESSIG Frédéric Pierre Tamatoa (fhaessig_at_wanadoo.fr)
Date: 10/25/04 

Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 22:18:18 +0200

Earl Colby Pottinger <earlcp@idirect.com> a écrit dans le message :
k56dncfE_Kar3OHcRVn-og@look.ca...
> Andrew Gray <andrew.gray@dunelm.org.uk> :
>
> > On 2004-10-24, HAESSIG Frédéric Pierre Tamatoa <fhaessig@wanadoo.fr>
wrote:
> > >
> > > Andrew Gray <andrew.gray@dunelm.org.uk> a écrit dans le message :
> > > slrncnne9b.sp0.andrew.gray@compsoc.dur.ac.uk...
> > >> http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3948531.stm
> > >>
> > >> "Brazil has successfully launched its first rocket into space. (...)
> > >> "At the time of last year's explosion, some predicted it would take
> > >> years for the programme to recover.
> > >> "Now there is likely to be jubilation that a VSV-30, or Brazilian
> > >> Exploration Vehicle, has been successfully launched, also from
> > >> Alcantara.
> > >> "Sunday's project was a less ambitious one, designed to carry out
> > >> experiments just outside the Earth's atmosphere at a maximum height
of
> > >> 250km."
> > >
> > > Without wanting to belittle the accomplishment of Brazil, this rocket
is
> > > doesn't have a satellite lanching capability, unlike the one which
> > explosed.
> > > It's a sounding rocket.
> >
> > This was confusing me; most of the reports indicated it was the same as
> > the one which exploded (and gave capacities roughly consistent with
> > that), but it did read somewhat like a suborbital launch - and AIUI
> > they've been doing those already.
> >
> > Is there much commonality between the two?
>
> Without knowing the details myself too, could this be a partly fueled
orbital
> design being tested with a sub-orbital flight. After last year's
explosion I
> don't blame them to try little steps at a time.

No. It's two completely different models. The VLS
http://www.astronautix.com/lvs/vls.htm, which explosed, was designed to
carry satellites into orbit ( 120 kg at 750km circular orbit ). The VSV
sounding rockets OTOH are designed for a balistic trajectory which intersect
the earth, carrying a 600 kg load to a 25km apogee. It's still much better
than the previous Brazilian sounding rockets
http://www.astronautix.com/lvs/vs30.htm, but nothing like the VLS would have
been. There's a lot of difference in the delta V required.

>
> Earl Colby Pottinger
>
> PS. Did they find the cause of the that happened explosion last year?
>

Yes. Not following the safety rules and having people working on a live
rocket without taking proper precautions -> sparks, on a live rocket.

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