NASA Plans to Catapault Scramjet Into Space
Launch Using Electric Track Jason Mick (Blog) – Sept 15, 2010
NASA engineers are
developing a radical new form of launch that begins aboard an electrified track
similar to that of a rollercoaster. (Source: NASA)
http://www.dailytech.com/NASA+Plans+to+Catapault+Scramjet+Into+Space+Launch+Using+Electric+Track/article19628.htm
The sled would then
fling a scramjet into the air, which would activate and rocket to the upper
atmosphere. Once in the upper atmosphere, the scramjet would fire a capsule
launch vehicle into space as the final step. (Source: NASA/Artist concept)
clear pixel New launch system could be used for
manned launches and satellite launches
NASA's budget may be cut, but that hasn't stopped the first
international organization to put a man on the Moon from dreaming big. One key question the agency is looking
at is what the next big thing in space propulsion will be. NASA and foreign space agencies have
examined plasma engines, ion engines, nuclear-powered designs, and solar sails,
but these technologies lack the impulse and thrust to accelerate a launch
vehicle into orbit.
However, NASA's latest
proposal may be the most creative idea of them all and has the potential to be
relatively affordable. The new
proposal starts by placing a sled on electric tracks -- NASA's sled needs to
reach a whopping 600 mph (appr. 1,000 km/h). At the end of the track, the passenger vehicle, which rests
atop the sled, will be flung off, launching at extreme speed. The passenger vehicle would be a
wedge-shaped aircraft, with scramjets aboard, which would activate upon
launch. Those scramjets would
accelerate the aircraft to Mach 10.
Wings would gradually
angle the craft into the Earth's upper atmosphere. At the boundaries of the Earth's atmosphere, the scramjet
would fire the actual spacecraft -- a capsule. The maneuver would be akin to firing a round out of a
barrel By using mechanical
motion to launch the craft, instead of expensive chemical boosters, the cost of
launches could dramatically decrease. NASA's Stan Starr, branch chief of the Applied Physics
Laboratory at Florida's Kennedy Space Center, says the technology to achieve
this type of launch isn't that far away.
In a released statement, he explains, "All of these are technology
components that have already been developed or studied. We're just proposing to mature these
technologies to a useful level, well past the level they've already been taken. Essentially you bring together parts of
NASA that aren't usually brought together." Engineers at NASA and the U.S. Air Force have worked
on a variety of scramjet projects thus far, including the X-43A and X-51 (a
missile design). So far these
programs have had a couple of successful launches and tests under their belt,
raising hopes that the technology can soon be applied to projects like the
launcher. Mr. Starr and
other NASA engineers have assembled a proposal to build the system, which
they're dubbing the Advanced Space Launch System. They're seeking grants from a variety of sources.
Under the plan Langley
Research Center in Virginia, Glenn Research Center in Ohio, and Ames Research
Center in California would build and test the parts of the hypersonic
aircraft. Dryden Research Center
in California, Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland and Marshall, along with
the Kennedy Space Center would engineer the rail track. The plan calls for an actual two-mile
long test track to be laid down parallel to the crawlway that the Shuttle used
to be transported along to Launch Pad 39A. Mr. Starr comments, "I still see Kennedy's core role as
a launch and landing facility." The 10-year plan for the launch platform calls for the
program to begin with launching small drones -- like those used by the Air Force
-- into orbit. This would be
followed by satellite launches. If
all goes according to plan, the system could eventually be used for low-cost
manned mission launches, as well.
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