Orbital Sciences Corp Offers Up Shuttle Replacement

The Dulles, Viginia, based Orbital Scien

ces Corp. announced on Tuesday, that it had

officially submitted a proposal to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to build a winged space vehicle for astronaut transportation to and from earth orbit once NASA’s space shuttle is retired.

The design is of the "blended lifting body" type. Its design history goes back to 2002/2003 when Orbital did a study for NASA back then. The vehicle is designed with four seats allowing room for commercial passengers.

This new vehicle would normally use the Atlas V rocket as its booster and return for a conventional landing on a runway after its mission was completed.

Lockheed Martin Corp however, is going along with a capsule sim

ilar to Apollo/Orion with parachute landing.

My personal opinion on this matter is that I hope Orbital beats the pants off of the Lochkeed Martin proposal. Does anybody remember VentureStar? I personally do not want to see our nation just turns its back to the idea of a winged spacecraft that is able to land on a regular runway.

UPDATE December 18, 2010: At the NASA Dryden space center, a 15% scale model of Sierra Nevada Corporation's Dream Chaser spacecraft design was test dropped from a helicopter.

The company's full size version is based upon NASA's HL-20 lifting body. The Sierra Nevada Corporation's (SNC) Dream Chaser is designed to carry up to seven people to the ISS and back. It will be launched vertically on a Atlas V rocket and recover horizontally on conventional runways.

Using a Bell 206B3 Jet Ranger helicopter, the model was attached to a 100-foot long cable and dropped from an altitude of 14,000 feet. Landing this time was done via a parachute. The scale model was built by a team of experts from SNC and the Research and Engineering Center for Unmanned Vehicles at the University of Colorado at Boulder (CU).

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Ref.

1. Bizjournals.com "Orbital Sciences proposes shuttle replacement" by Tucker Echols. December 15, 2010.(http://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/news/2010/12/15/orbital-proposes-shuttle-replace.html).

2.SpaceFellowship.com (http://spacefellowship.com/news/art24418/orbital-submits-proposal-for-nasa-s-commercial-crew-development-program.html).

3. Update link "Dream Chaser Model Drops in at NASA Dryden" (http://www.comspacewatch.com/news/viewsr.rss.html?pid=35563).

Asteroid Mission - 2025

New idea being pitched around is a plan to visit a asteroid in the year 2025. The mission is nickname: Plymouth Rock.

Gee, that would be the perfect mission of a Orion class spaceship. Oops! Forgot President Obama axed that program. But, there is a resistance movment in Congress to keep Orion on life support until Obama can be kicked out of office.

Quoting the Space.com article: "We are pleased that the Orion project is included in the House and Senate bills as Lockheed Martin works toward a 2013 launch date," said Linda Singleton, Orion Communications Manager for Lockheed Martin Space Systems Co. in Houston.

This week, Josh Hopkins of Lockheed's Human Spaceflight Advanced Programs will detail an early human mission to near-Earth asteroids using Orion spacecraft, at Space 2010, a conference being held by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. end quote.

But - back to what is referred to as "The Plymouth Rock" deep space exploration mission. A so-called dressed rehearsal for a manned mission to Mars.

Lockheed Martin has been spending its own cash on developing this mission plan. Josh Hopkins detail what an early human mission to near-Earth asteroids using Orion spacecraft would be like, at Space 2010, a conference being held by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

At that meeting, the proposed asteroid mission concept combines two Orion spacecraft with modifications to provide the necessary propulsion, living space and life-support capability for two astronauts. The dual-Orion configuration can probably support deep-space mission durations of five to six months.

Quote, "Because Orion is already designed to do missions far beyond low-Earth orbit, it already has most of the capabilities that we need," Hopkins said.

Thomas Jones, a former space shuttle astronaut, "NASA's plans for how to execute a NEO mission are still in the formative stage, but a key component of any mission concept is a small piloted re-entry vehicle," Jones told SPACE.com. "The updated Orion could serve this function, as part of a larger spacecraft capable of reaching and exploring a NEO."

NASA could build a NEO cruise vehicle in low-Earth orbit or at a stable point in space near Earth called a Lagrange point, Jones said. That craft would consist of a propulsion system, habitation volume, a small NEO surface exploration craft that Jones likened to a "space pod" and the re-entry vehicle.

"An attractive change for NASA between the lunar architecture and proposed NEO missions is that most of this cruise vehicle could be re-used," Jones said.

Only the re-entry vehicle would have to be replaced, he added. The rest of the mission's assets could be left in Earth orbit to be used on later flights.

Now this is where Robert Bigelow can come in with his inflatable haitats for a space mission. This could increase the crew size from two to four.

Anyway, use the link below for the entire article.

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Ref.

1. Space.com. August 30, 2010. "'Plymouth Rock' Deep Space Adteroid Mission Idea Gains Ground" by Leonard David. (http://www.space.com/news/asteroid-mission-plans-orion-spacecraft-100830.html).

2. Image from Space.com.

Boeing's NGAD Jet Fighter Concept

The DEW Line got a exclusive it seems from Boeing in being allowed to use images of Boeing's NGAD (Next Generation Air Dominance) fighter concept. Boeing showed off their new proposal of a tailess 1/16th scale model and poster at the Navy League event recently.

Primary designed to be a carrier airplane, the fighter is a 40,000 pound design. If the U.S. Air Force went for this design, it would have to be almost 50% larger in size to replace the 60,000 pound F-22 type fighters. The larger engines will allow the aircraft to go into supercruise, and be low observable that has internal weapons bays and extreme agility. This will be a 9g-rated airframe and take on the old air-to-air performance once performed by the now retired F-14. Avionics between the USAF and the USN version will no doubt be the same.

Boeing really wants to get back into the fighter market. Lockheed Martin has taken a hit over the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program. What is interesting is that its the same airframe, but will come in two versions - if you go by the image. The aircraft banking towards you is a unmanned vehicle and the aircraft still flying level is manned.

NGAD is planned to be a replacement for the F-22/F-35 and be operational by 2025-2030.

For the entire article, please visit the link below.

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Ref. DEW Line. May 7, 2010. "Boeing plots return to next-generation fighter market" by Stephen Trimble.(http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/the-dewline/2010/05/boeing-plots-return-to-next-ge.html). Image is from that website/Boeing.

Airbus A400M Military Transport First Flight

Well, it finally took-off for its first flight today. Its a little bit bigger than the Lockheed C-130 with more powerful turboprop engines than the Herky bird.

USS Independence - The Tri-Hull Monster of the Gulf!

The 418-foot long USS Independence is one of two prototype ships for the Littoral Combat Ship contract. This one was built by the General Dynamics consortium. And it went out on a little cruise into the Gulf of Mexico this week.

Most striking feature of this ship is it's tri-hull configuration. But both ships (Independence and the Freedom built by Lockheed Martin) both have water thruster propulsion. And with this latest test, the Independence reached 52 mph! Impressive for a ship of this size. That's 45 knots for you Navy types out there! And it was doing so in 6 to 8 foot swells and against a headwind of 30 knots. And the USS Independence did this for a sustain rate of speed for four hours. Normal cruising speed for normal warships is suppose to be in the 30-35 knot range.

Both ship designs use very powerful diesel engines plus gas turbines for that extra boost of speed. (I have to wonder if the skippers of these ships will start calling this "Warp Speed" when they have the throttle pushed to the wall?). Both the Independence and its competitor - the USS Freedom, have shallow drafts that let them get in closer to shore than regular naval vessels.

Main mission selling point by both companies right now seems to be pointing out how these ships can go up against the pirate threat. Whether its Lockheed Martin or General Dynamics that ultimately wins the contract - the U.S. Navy will have 55 of these speedy ships. Expected costs per vessel is in the $220 million dollar range.

This class of ship has multiple mission modules that can support anti-submarine, mine sweeping, or traditional surface warfare. Both designs have helicopter flight decks on the stern to operate helicopters.

From this blogger's personal opinion, I hope that the Navy goes with the USS Independence. I wonder if John Paul Jones is looking down from Heaven and saying, "That is a fast ship going in harm's way!"

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Ref. WAVY.com news, October 22, 2009. AP news article by David Sharp (http://www.wavy.com/dpp/military/military_ap_mobile_New_warship_tops_out_at_over_50_mph_20091022).

Reaganite Republican Resistance.blogspot.com article "The Navy's New Pirate Vaporizer" (http://reaganiterepublicanresistance.blogspot.com/2009/10/navys-new-pirate-neutralizer.html)

Flying Subs? A Reality Soon?

Eric Palmer on his blog found a Lockheed Martin info ad on You Tube about a Navy UAV project that they are working on. After viewing that infomercial, I decided to post that here as well. Because I still remember as a young kid watching the old "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea" TV series. The USS Seaview and its yellow and black Flying Sub. Years later, there was SkyDiver 1 from the Gerry Anderson TV series "UFO." The front quarter of that submarine seperated into a near space interceptor fighting the alien invasion.

I remember a few years ago on the History Channel, they did a series of programs of Axis and Allies Secret Weapon projects. The Soviets had a flying submarine design of their own.

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REf. (http://ericpalmer.wordpress.com/2009/09/20/cormorant/).

Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea images (http://www.vttbots.com/flying_sub_biggie.html)

UFO (http://ufoseries.com/index.html)

Capital Hill Coming to Moon Plan Rescue!

This past tuesday, NASA got a boost for it's return to the moon program. And from members on Capital Hill.

Basically, its a plea for an additional $3 billion dolalrs a year to NASA to keep the plan originally proposed by President George W. Bush.

Head of the President Obama's panel that review the space program proposal said, "With the resources available, the program I think is fatally flawed." So said Norman Augustine, the panel's head. Mr. Augustine is a retired chief executive officer of Lockheed Martin Corp.

Congressmen from both parties, including the wife of a astronaut, came to the plan's defense - attacking the Augustine panel for their conculsions.

NASA has already spent $8 billion on the Constellation Project. By 2020, $100 billion would have been spent on that program.

"I don't see the logic in scrapping what the nation has spent years and billions of dollars to develope," House Space Subcommittee chairwoman Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ). Her husband Mark Kelly, is schedule to command a shuttle mission next year. She went on to add that there needs to be a very compelling reason to change the program.

Augustine told the Associated Press after the hearing that "the sunken costs argument doesn't carry much weight with us."

Former NASA Administrator Michael Griffin - came to the defense of his pet project. Griffin agree with the Augustine reprot in saying there was not enough money in the current budget to explore space and go anywhere new. Griffin noted that Presidents Obama, Bush, and Bill Clinton all essentially cut NASA spending, with a drop of about 20 percent since 1993. Griffin in his wirtten testimony defended the Bush moon program technical design and emphasized that it should continue with the extra money. He asked that the Augustine Commission, Congress and President Obama should ask themeselves ,"exactly why does the policy which we established in law - twice - need to be changed?"

The Augustine commission recommened dropping the Aries I rocket and go straight to the Ares V booster system. Last week, the Ares I was test fired and it past that crucial test.

UPDATE (September 17, 2009). Added additional link in Ref section below.

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Ref. www.comcast.net, Sept 15, 2009. by Seth Borenstein, "Return-to-moon plan gets boost on Captial Hill" (http://www.comcast.net/articles/news-science/20090915/US.SCI.NASA.Moon/).

The Space Advocate (http://thespaceadvocate.blogspot.com/2009/09/augustine-vs-congress-people-some-of.html).

Space Flight Now(http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0909/15augustine/)