Great pics and data Phil
Watched a biography on Burt Rutan..a good portion was on his days as a test pilot at Edwards.
Burt had some rather scathing remarks to make about NASA..go figure : )
Burt conveyed plainly that the airforce does not test like they used to..or try designs..like they were in the 50's and 60's.
He said they were pulling 9 G's in the early 60's..and commented.that if the test pilots of his day saw and flew the new Joint Strike Fighter..they would laugh and say you haven't achieved anything in 40 yrs.
I guess from Burts point of view..nothing spectacular has appeared since SR-71...he feels vision for flight has dropped by the wayside.
To some degree I believe he is correct as the A-12 was blistering the skies in 1962..with sister SR-71 soon to follow. Maybe Burt is right..and vision has fallen by the wayside.
We were discussing new options for shuttles on some threads here at FR.
I found a web site that discussed Magnetic rail launch..and application of the Linear Areo spike..which NASA/Darpa have been trying on SR-71...[Some great pics on NASA's site of Linear Areospike SR-71'S.
Magnetic rail launch Ion Drive [Plasma drive] for space
Magnetic levitation tracks may someday replace the traditional vertical launch pad
A full-scale track proposed by Marshall to be built and operated at Kennedy Space Center would be about 1.5 miles (2.4 kilometers) long. It would accelerate a spacecraft to about 2 Gs for 9.3 seconds and reach speeds of 400 to 600 m.p.h. (640 to 960 kilometers per hour). Researchers at Marshall are already testing 50-foot (15-meter) and 400-foot (120-meter) tracks at the center.
Plasma drive allready exists
Boeing builds Zenon [gas] Ion thrusters currently used on satillites. Pulsed Plasma drive is another configuration.
Aero spike mated to magnetic rail launch...not to farfetched...lets hope vision returns to Americas space and military admins.
Man! You sound like Radio Astronomer! The only time I've heard Rail Gun and Plama is in Sci/Fi movies as weapons LOL!
The XRS-2200 Linear Aerospike Engine is being produced for use on the Lockheed Martin Skunk Works' X-33 Vehicle. The Aerospike allows development of the most traceable X-33. Flight operation, flight control, and installed engine performance are fully representative of the Reusable Launch Vehicle. The engine structure is integral to the vehicle, demonstrating installed weight benefits. Over $500 million have been invested to date in aerospike engines, and previous full-size versions of the engines have accumulated 73 tests and over 4,000 seconds of operation.
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Maglev On a New Track
December 18, 2002
NASA's new maglev track
A second magnetic levitation track is up and running at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. This continuation of NASA's research in magnetic levitation, called maglev, could give launch vehicles a "running start" to break free from Earth's gravity.
A maglev system uses magnetic fields to levitate and accelerate a vehicle along a track. Similar systems are in use today on high-speed trains and some of the newer, radical-ride roller coasters. Maglev systems use high-strength electromagnets to lift a vehicle a few inches above a track and then propel it forward with high acceleration.
Once up to speed, as much as 600 mph, the vehicle would then switch to rocket engines. separate from the maglev carrier, and propel itself into space. This would dramatically reduce the cost of getting to space because the carrier and electrical power used for maglev are inexpensive and stay on the ground, unlike rocket fuel which adds weight and cost to a launch vehicle.
Installed in a high-bay building, the new experimental track is 44 feet long. It can accelerate a 10-pound carrier to 57 mph at its peak, traveling 22 feet in 1/4 second. This is the equivalent of 10 times the acceleration of gravity. At the end of the 22 foot acceleration, the power is turned off and the carrier slows to a stop through passive breaking.
The acceleration is done using a linear synchronous motor. This means that the copper coils along the track are synchronized so each is turned on just before the carrier comes in contact with them, and off as soon as the carrier passes. The coils are electromagnets, and attract the permanent magnets on the sides of the carrier. This makes the carrier move forward. Sensors on the side of the track determine the carrier’s position so the correct drive coils are turned on or off.
NASA's 50' outdoor track
Engineers are conducting tests on both the indoor track and a 50-foot outdoor maglev track installed at Marshall last September. The testing will help engineers understand maglev vehicle dynamics, the interface between a carrier and its launch vehicle, and how to separate the vehicle from the carrier for launch.
The Advanced Space Transportation Program at Marshall Space Flight Center is conducting the tests on the track designed and built by Foster-Miller Inc. of Waltham, Massachusetts. The earlier, outdoor track was built by NASA and industry partner PRT Advanced Maglev Systems Inc. of Park Forest, Illinois.
How Maglev works
Maglev uses the simple technology of magnets to levitate the vehicle so it is not touching anything. Magnets have two poles: one north and the other south. Different poles attract each other while similar poles repel each other. By using the repulsion of similar poles the vehicle is levitated. By using the attraction of different poles the vehicle is propelled forward.
Magnetic Levitation Trains
High-speed magnetic levitation trains, called maglevs, have the advantages of being faster, smoother, and quieter than conventional trains. Several countries, including Japan, Germany, and the United States have maglev train development programs. A maglev train in Germany has run at 270 mph (435 km/h).
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Electric Propulsion (EP) Products
Aerospace Operations has also leveraged its strong scientific & engineering capabilities to become the world's leading supplier of electric propulsion products which provide extremely high performance for a variety of satellite and spacecraft applications. The company's extensive EP product line includes hydrazine resistojet and arcjet systems, pulsed plasma thrusters, and zenon based ion engines and Hall Effect thruster systems. Our propulsion systems include thrusters, power processing units and associated propellant management, storage & feed subsystems.
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We get up to do work for the "retired" chief scientist of the Air Force, conveniently located adjacent to LANL.
If truth be told, the future seems to be arriving just in time.