Posted by
michael
on from the up-up-and-away dept.
sckienle writes "Space.com has an article about the Israeli X Prize spacecraft. Not a lot of hard technical details, but a good overview of an attempted alternative to standard rocket launches."
-- --
Some days you're the dog; some days you're the hydrant.
Balloon launch
by
dpilot
·
· Score: 3, Interesting
As a kid I remember seeing a picture of one of these from back in the early days of rocketry. The rocket was shooting right up through the balloon, destroying it in the process.
Unless they do some sort of drop first, or an initially oblique launch, I don't see how the Israeli effort can help but do the same. If they drop first, then they have to launch at negative velocity, which negates part of the benefit. If they launch through the balloon with a manned vehicle, they have to make sure they can go cleanly through it without snarling something.
It'll be interesting. I like the idea of getting to 80,000ft without spending reaction mass.
-- The living have better things to do than to continue hating the dead.
Re:Balloon launch
by
geek42
·
· Score: 2, Informative
Looks like they intend to detach first, then fire rockets with the module at an angle of 70 to 80 degrees from horizontal.
http://www.xprize.org/pdfs/ILAT.pdf
Dumb question: do they retrieve the balloon later, or just let it float about up there? How long will it take to come down?
Less dumb question: how do you control where the landing site will be when your initial, 2-3 hour ascent is at the mercy of the wind? I suspect you don't - not my favorite form of transportation, given the landing is supposed to be at 25 km/h (15.5 mph). I can think of plenty of places I _wouldn't_ want to land at that speed, with or without ballutes!
To win the $10 million X Prize a spacecraft must be privately financed and constructed with the ability to fly three people 62 miles (100 kilometers) into space. It also must be reusable, flying twice within a two-week period.
They can use no money from the Israeli Gov., whether it be from Israeli or US taxpayers.
Slashdot Mirror
GO CANADA!!!
c hn icalFlight.html
http://www.davinciproject.com/beta/Technical/Te
GO CANADA!!!
--meh--
As a kid I remember seeing a picture of one of these from back in the early days of rocketry. The rocket was shooting right up through the balloon, destroying it in the process.
Unless they do some sort of drop first, or an initially oblique launch, I don't see how the Israeli effort can help but do the same. If they drop first, then they have to launch at negative velocity, which negates part of the benefit. If they launch through the balloon with a manned vehicle, they have to make sure they can go cleanly through it without snarling something.
It'll be interesting. I like the idea of getting to 80,000ft without spending reaction mass.
The living have better things to do than to continue hating the dead.
They can use no money from the Israeli Gov., whether it be from Israeli or US taxpayers.
Don't Bogart the fish sticks