From:      skunk-works-digest-owner@harbor.ecn.purdue.edu
To:        skunk-works-digest@harbor.ecn.purdue.edu
Subject:   Skunk Works Digest V4 #29
Reply-To:  skunk-works-digest@harbor.ecn.purdue.edu
Errors-To: skunk-works-digest-owner@harbor.ecn.purdue.edu
Precedence: bulk

Skunk Works Digest        Tuesday, 5 October 1993      Volume 04 : Number 029

In this issue:

	Aeroballistic rocket

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From: urf@ki.icl.se (Urban Fredriksson)
Date: Mon, 4 Oct 93 10:34:10 MET
Subject: Aeroballistic rocket

A couple of interesting paragraphs from an article I just found:

>From: henry@zoo.toronto.edu (Henry Spencer)
>Date: Mon, 4 Oct 1993 03:54:22 GMT
>Newsgroups: sci.space.news
>Subject: space news from Aug 17 AW&ST

>Lockheed Skunk Works proposes its own SSTO concept, intended to deliver
>payload to low orbit at $500/lb (or less) not long after 2000.  The
>"Aeroballistic Rocket" would use a flat lifting-body shape and a linear
>aerospike rocket engine.  [Note:  this is not an airbreather.]  Payload
>capacity would be 40klbs, comparable to the shuttle or Titan IV.  The
>vehicle would launch vertically and land horizontally, with a 12-72hr
>stay in orbit.  Initial flights would be manned, but the intent is that
>routine operations be unmanned.
>
>The linear aerospike ties in well with a wide flat body shape, resembling
>the X-24 flown 25 years ago, with a near-vertical fin at each "wingtip".
>Thrust:weight ratio at takeoff will be 1.4, and the vehicle has full
>engine-out capability, with a failure of an aerospike segment resulting
>in shutdown of a matching segment on the other side, and diversion into
>a trajectory that will burn off fuel and return to the launch site.
>The lift:drag ratio at hypersonic speeds will be poor, below 1:1 due
>to a very high angle of attack (45deg), but it will be a respectable glider
>at lower angles (10deg), with an L/D of 5.5-6 for landing.  Lockheed claims
>a unique lower-surface contour that will manage airflow and heat
>buildup; the underside will be a high-temperature metallic structure,
>not ceramic tiles (which are seen as heavy and costly).
- -- 
 Urban Fredriksson  urf@icl.se
 "It's like the '64 Air Force mission to the moon -- you want to be on the
  cutting edge, you gotta live with the secrecy."  
 "What Air Force mission to the moon?"  
 "See?"     -'In the Hole w/ the Boys w/ the Toys' G.Landis IAFSM Oct 93

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End of Skunk Works Digest V4 #29
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