Coming home: Enterprise returns to shipyard in final trip - Navy - Stripes

Coming home: Enterprise returns to shipyard in final trip - Navy - Stripes

YES!!!  

CVN-80 WILL BE THE NEW U.S.S. ENTERPRISE!



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Ref.
1.  Google image search:  ( http://www.jeffhead.com/CVN80-BigE/cvn-80-02.jpg ).

100-Year Spaceship Program

At a news conference held in San Francisco on Saturday, NASA Ames director Simon Worden talked about what his division was doing with funding from DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency). Something he called the "Hundred Year Starship" project.

The project has been given $1 million dollars from DARPA and another $100,000 from NASA in the hopes of utilizing new propulsion ideas. One of which is familiar to Star Trek fans the world over: Electric propulsion.

Quoting Mr. Worden, “Anybody that watches the (Star Trek starship) Enterprise, you know you don’t see huge plumes of fire," he said. "Within a few years we will see the first true prototype of a spaceship that will take us between worlds.”

The Hundred Year Ship Project is now aimed at settling other worlds.

Mr. Worden is seeking out some billionaires the likes of which include Larry Page-Google founder, to help get the idea off the launch pad so to speak. Quoting again, "You don’t have to carry all the fuel," he said. "You use that energy from a laser or microwave power to heat a propellant; it gets you a pretty big factor of improvement. I think that’s one way of getting off the world.”

This news dovetails with a recent article published in the latest issue of Popular Science (November 2010), the cover article entitled "39 Days to Mars." It was an article that focus on former astronaut Franklin Chang Diaz and his Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket (VASIMR) engine.

The VASIMR uses a electrical source such as a nuclear reactor or a solar generator to transform hydrogen gas into plasma. Powerful magnets then force the plasma out of the rocket engine up to 123,000 mph.

One can suppose that Mr. Worden was indeed referring to the VASIMR in his talks with Larry Page and at the news conference.

UPDATE (October 31, 2010): Found this interesting take on this subject here (http://www.suite101.com/content/newly-revealed-nasa-cover-up-another-possible-future-ufo-a302707).

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Ref. "NASA preps '100-year spaceship' program to boldly go where none have gone before" By Peter Farquhar. October 23, 2010. (http://www.news.com.au/technology/nasa-preps-100-year-spaceship-programme-to-boldly-go-where-none-have-gone-before/story-e6frfro0-1225941547507).

image is Star Trek USS Enterprise pulled off of the net from Paramount Pictures.

U.S.S. America (LHA-6) and Global Hawks in the news

Discovered the news that Northrop-Grumman won the contract to do the replacement to the Tarawa class Amphib. Did a Google search and found images of the LHA-6 U.S.S. America. Also Cdr Salamander's blog that gave more details about the ship than the corporate website (kinda odd I thought).

Any way, it appears the island on the starboard side is at least as long as the other amphibs in the U.S. Navy. From the CGI images, I'm guessing its slightly narrower than before.

The ship is designed to transport 20+ F-35s (if that program doesn't crash and burn!). Also carries V-22 and CH-53 helicopters. With this ship, the well deck is gone-so no hovercraft like the LCACs.

And like Cdr Salamander, this is basically a baby escort carrier for the 21st century. He wrote down the general characteristics of both the LHA-6 and the old Midway class aircraft carrier.

(Quote)

And yes, I could call it a small CV or CVS - it is the right size.

General Characteristics: LHA-6

Displacement:-Approximately 44,971 long tons full load

Length:-------844 feet (257.3 meters)

Beam:---------106 feet (32.3 meters)

Draft:--------23 feet

Propulsion:---Two marine gas turbines, two shafts, 70,000 total brake horsepower, two 5,000 horsepower auxiliary propulsion motors

Speed:--------20+ knots

Crew:---------1,059 (65 officers)

Load:---------1,687 troops (plus 184 surge)

Armament:-----Two RAM launchers; two NATO Sea Sparrow launchers (with Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile (ESSM)); two 20mm Phalanx CIWS mounts; seven twin .50 cal. machine guns

Aircraft:-----A mix of: F-35B Joint Strike Fighters (JSF) STOVL aircraft; MV-22 Osprey VTOL tiltrotors; CH-53E Sea Stallion helicopters; UH-1Y Huey helicopters; AH-1Z Super Cobra helicopters; MH-60S Seahawk helicopters

Just to compare, remember the USS CORAL SEA (CV-43)?

General characteristics: Midway-class aircraft carrier

Displacement:-45,000 tons

Length:-------968 ft (295 m)

Beam: --------113 ft (34 m) waterline

Draft:--------35 ft (11 m)

Propulsion:---Geared steam turbines 212,000 shp

Speed:--------33 knots (61 km/h)

Crew:---------4,104 officers and men

Armament:-----Original armament:

----------------84 × Bofors 40 mm guns,

----------------68 × Oerlikon 20 mm cannon

----------------18 × 5"/54 caliber Mark 16 guns

--------------Refit armament:

----------------16 Sea Sparrow

----------------2 close-in weapons systems

Armor:--------Belt: 7.6 inch

Deck:---------3.5 inch

Aircraft carried: Up to 130 (World War II)

45-55 (1980s)

(end Quote).

He then went off on a side-note about naming the following on ships of this class. I personaly like his choices. But I'm still worried that one of the big Ford class nuclear CVNs may not be named after U.S.S. Enterprise. I'm in fact a bit worried that that name will somehow appear on one of these smaller hulls of the America class.

I have also dug into my archives for the blog postings I did on the U.S.S. Enterprise and on the Japanese Helicopter deck destroyers (i.e. Carriers). Both links are below. But I do want to quote part of that article here:

Currently, the 18,000-ton, 610 foot long, Hyuga (DDH 181) is jointed by sister ship Ise. A third ship of this class is still planned. The next carrier will be longer with a flight deck of 763 feet long. It will weigh in at about 25,000 tons. Currently these ships will operate the SH-60s of which 10 to 11 can be carried by the Hyuga class. Crew size is in the 350 personnel range.

Checking out Wikipedia, DDH-181(Hyuga) and sister DDH-182 (Ise), will be able to operate Harriers and F-35 Lightning IIs when they become operational. The ships will then be equipped with a 12 degree ski-jump.

Smaller carriers-they may be named something else to get the funding needed to get them built, but they are coming no matter what. Anyway, links below.

As an aside, also on the Northrop-Grumman website, was this little bit of news about testing of two Global Hawks doing mid-air refueling! Check out that news release as well!

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Cdr Salamander blog (http://cdrsalamander.blogspot.com/2008/07/uss-america-returns.html).

Northrop-Grumman website (http://www.northropgrumman.com/) & press release for LHA-6 (http://www.irconnect.com/noc/press/pages/news_releases.html?d=195497).

Two Global Hawk UAVs Will Conduct mid-air refueling oepration test. (http://www.irconnect.com/noc/press/pages/news_releases.html?d=195525).

Link to my post about naming a future carrier U.S.S. Enterprise (http://aerospacedreams.blogspot.com/2009/08/there-shall-always-be-uss-enterprise.html).

This is my post about Japan's Helicopter Destroyer class Ise (http://aerospacedreams.blogspot.com/2009/09/japan-is-gettin-back-into-carriers.html).