Re: Spaceship One in perspective
From: Scott Moore (samiam_at_moorecad.com)
Date: 06/30/04
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Date: Wed, 30 Jun 2004 17:20:33 GMT
Jeff Findley wrote:
> "Scott Moore" <samiam@moorecad.com> wrote in message
> news:h5iEc.112811$2i5.101000@attbi_s52...
>
>>Jeff Findley wrote:
>>
>>
>>>When you start talking about launch vehicles to LEO and beyond, solids
>
> start
>
>>>looking very unattractive and hybrids don't look so good either.
>>>
>>>Jeff
>>
>>For a beginner to the subject, can you say why that is ?
>
>
> Generally lower ISP and a higher empty weight than a liquid engine. ISP is
> a measure of the performance of a fuel/engine combination and is a bit
> lengthy to explain in detail.
>
> As for the empty weight issue, with a solid, your fuel/oxidizer container
> and your combustion chamber are the *same* structure, so it's got to be able
> to withstand the pressure and temperatures of the combustion chamber. When
> you look at a shuttle SRB, pretty much the entire length of the SRB is
> (heavy) combustion chamber. These things are so sturdy (heavy), they are
> dropped into the ocean (with parachutes), fished out of the water, and
> re-used.
>
> On a liquid fueled booster, the tanks are just tanks, so they have to deal
> with considerably less pressure and can be made much lighter weight. On the
> old Atlas ICBM (liquid fueled) the tanks were extremely lightweight. The
> tanks were so thin and light they called them balloon tanks. They had to be
> pressurized to several PSI on the ground or else they would collapse. If
> you ever see an old Atlas ICBM on display, don't be surprised if it's
> attached to an air compressor. ;-)
>
> Jeff
So the reason a solid can have higher thrust is that it has a larger total
combustion chamber ?
Why are solids popular as boosters ?
Thank you.
-- Samiam is Scott A. Moore Personal web site: http:/www.moorecad.com/scott My electronics engineering consulting site: http://www.moorecad.com ISO 7185 Standard Pascal web site: http://www.moorecad.com/standardpascal Classic Basic Games web site: http://www.moorecad.com/classicbasic The IP Pascal web site, a high performance, highly portable ISO 7185 Pascal compiler system: http://www.moorecad.com/ippas Being right is more powerfull than large corporations or governments. The right argument may not be pervasive, but the facts eventually are.
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