US Lifting Bodies Studies - START (ASSET/PRIME), FDL, X-24, etc.

Martin SV-5 Model

http://www.ebay.com/itm/RARE-Vintage-Martin-SV-5-USAF-Resin-Lifting-Body-Contractors-Desk-Model-/222153233609?hash=item33b95d54c9:g:JXwAAOSwNuxXYGb1
 

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You guys might like some of these pics. Some of those pics seem pretty new to me. Probably because I've never seen them before! :-D

The shots of the X-24A being converted to the B configuration are worth a gander.

https://m.flickr.com/#/photos/128712737@N03/sets/72157654395157503/
 

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Recently posted on YouTube by NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center (Edwards AFB), December 12, 1969 footage of the remote controlled flight (piloted by Milt Thompson on the ground) of the Hyper III, after being dropped from altitude by a "borrowed" US Navy Sikorsky SH-3 Sea King helicopter (piloted by Bruce Peterson).
YouTube - NASA Armstrong Research Flight Center "Hyper III Drop Test From SH-3 Helicopter"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwdClhh1HwE
 
I'm not sure if this one's been posted before or not


http://www.up-ship.com/images/C5tav.jpg
 

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XP67_Moonbat said:
I'm not sure if this one's been posted before or not
http://www.up-ship.com/images/C5tav.jpg
Click to expand...

It's not !
And it's new here, thanks allot for posting !
 
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19930012927.pdf
 

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X-24C model

https://www.ebay.com/itm/X-24-C-Martin-Marietta-NASA-X24-Airplane-Desktop-Model-Hypersonic-Vehicle-As-Is/332796134043?hash=item4d7c32029b:g:J4gAAOSwohJbkZ97
 

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Hi,

https://www.flickr.com/photos/sdasmarchives/31288927261
 

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what it has to do with _lifting bodies_?
 
flateric said:
what it has to do with _lifting bodies_?
Click to expand...

That's Convair version of reusable Atlas rocket
the reusable Second stage is a lifting body

30538736670_0b17059bf3_b.jpg
 
From L+K 12/1965,

I don't remember what was this Boeing ?.
 

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The idea is intriguing: Aero-Gravity Assist

Do a Fly-By so close to Mars and Venus, that the Spacecraft rams through its atmosphere at hypersonic speeds.
The study look into use of Waverider (Lifting Body) cover in Carbon heatshield to survive the temperature of 3000°K
According the Study it would reduce travel time to outer Solarsystem
Bonus the Waverider could use Aerodynamic capture at target Gas giants or Saturn Moon Titan

 
Michel Van said:
The idea is intriguing: Aero-Gravity Assist

Do a Fly-By so close to Mars and Venus, that the Spacecraft rams through its atmosphere at hypersonic speeds.
The study look into use of Waverider (Lifting Body) cover in Carbon heatshield to survive the temperature of 3000°K
According the Study it would reduce travel time to outer Solarsystem
Bonus the Waverider could use Aerodynamic capture at target Gas giants or Saturn Moon Titan

Click to expand...

Interesting stuff! I recall ASTRA (Association in Scotland to Research into Astronautics) proposed a similar mission plan for an Interplanetary Waverider around the same-ish time. Up to and including a 'flexible' aero-form for more utility. Can't find my good link :(

Randy
 
Some more Interplanetary Waverider stuff I came across:

Aero-Assisted Spacecraft Missions Using Hypersonic Waverider Aeroshells

This work examines the use of high-lift, low drag vehicles which perform orbital transfers within a planet’s atmosphere to reduce propulsive requirements. For the foreseeable future, spacecraft mission design will include the objective of limiting the mass of fuel required. One means of...
drum.lib.umd.edu drum.lib.umd.edu

[/URL]

Among others :) There appears to have been a couple of waves, (pardon the pun) of interest around the late 90s and mid-2000's for some reason.

Oh and this one is interesting both in the historic and conclusions on 'wedge' waveriders:

Randy
 
Michel Van said:
The idea is intriguing: Aero-Gravity Assist

Do a Fly-By so close to Mars and Venus, that the Spacecraft rams through its atmosphere at hypersonic speeds.
The study look into use of Waverider (Lifting Body) cover in Carbon heatshield to survive the temperature of 3000°K
According the Study it would reduce travel time to outer Solarsystem
Bonus the Waverider could use Aerodynamic capture at target Gas giants or Saturn Moon Titan

Click to expand...

Oh I remember seeing that. The most insane aerobraking concept ever. They hoped to be able to go into a retrograde orbit around the sun (or fall into it, solar probe style) by flying around Venus using Venus's atmosphere.
 
From; A Russian book about rockets,

what was this ?.
 

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Per lack of a better thread...
The FDL-5 / L-301 / Model 176 family - gimme a break... I just red (I will link the papers later) that
- Lockheed build a halfscale FDL-5MA mockup in 1969
- the final vehicle was to have an aerospike (http://www.astronautix.com/a/amps-1.html)
- with LH2/ fluorine and ISP 468 seconds
- enough to haul itself into orbit with a pair of drop tanks (with a classic Titan III as a more reasonable alternative)
- and that L-301 inspired Lockheed Starclipper own V-tanks

My mind is completely blown. Please help clearing what is fantasy from what was real. Is that aerospike thing any serious ? and fluorine, for frack sake ? God help the unfortunate pilot...
 
Archibald said:
Per lack of a better thread...
The FDL-5 / L-301 / Model 176 family - gimme a break... I just red (I will link the papers later) that
- Lockheed build a halfscale FDL-5MA mockup in 1969
- the final vehicle was to have an aerospike (http://www.astronautix.com/a/amps-1.html)
- with LH2/ fluorine and ISP 468 seconds
- enough to haul itself into orbit with a pair of drop tanks (with a classic Titan III as a more reasonable alternative)
- and that L-301 inspired Lockheed Starclipper own V-tanks
Click to expand...

The LF2 engine was part of a three-prong effort led by the Air Force Rocket Propulsion Laboratory in the mid-1960s. The other projects were a reusable storable-propellant upper stage and the XLR-129.
 
Very interesting... XLR-129 was SSME ancestor and even early contender, plus ISINGLASS engine. So these two were related ? does this mean that ISINGLASS and FDL-5MA were related, too ? ISINGLASS also produced some hardware rather than paperware, since some kind of test article was build.

a reusable storable-propellant upper stage
Click to expand...

Any more information ? considering the pedigree of the other two, this one might be interesting.
 
Archibald said:
Very interesting... XLR-129 was SSME ancestor and even early contender, plus ISINGLASS engine. So these two were related ? does this mean that ISINGLASS and FDL-5MA were related, too ? ISINGLASS also produced some hardware rather than paperware, since some kind of test article was build.
a reusable storable-propellant upper stage
Click to expand...

Any more information ? considering the pedigree of the other two, this one might be interesting.
Click to expand...

Lockheed won the Reusable Subsystems Design/Analysis study, covering three military space applications:
  • Project 1: Reusable upper stage
  • Project 2: Manned reusable launch vehicle, 25K lbm payload (ancestor of the Lockheed Star Clipper)
  • Project 3: FDL-influenced manned reusable spaceplane
The project 1 vehicle was dropped early on and its propulsion system was studied as an alternative (for obvious reasons) for the project 3 vehicle. The associated AFRPL propulsion systems and contractors were:
  • Project 1: N204/Hydrazine-50 -- Aerojet MIST
  • Project 2: LO2/LH2 -- Pratt & Whitney XLR-129-P-1
  • Project 3: LF2/LH2 -- Rocketdyne AMPS engine (one of many aerospike config studies by Rocketdyne in the 1960s)
Exec summary of the program (with the alternative propulsion options for vehicle 3) is here:

https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/506592.pdf
 
Same engine ? MIST is mentioned.

AJ23

AJ23
www.astronautix.com www.astronautix.com

A US staged combustion storable props engine - that would be much like the Soviet / Russian Briz-M engine (whatever its name) or RD-270 no ?
 
Archibald said:
Same engine ? MIST is mentioned.

AJ23

AJ23
www.astronautix.com www.astronautix.com

A US staged combustion storable props engine - that would be much like the Soviet / Russian Briz-M engine (whatever its name) or RD-270 no ?
Click to expand...

Not sure -- both the USAF and NASA funded a lot of prototype engines of all types in the 1960s. There were at least four Rocketdyne aerospike programs in those days, for example, but presumably fundamental technology was shared among them.
 
Awesome information on the Alpha Draco! The Model 122B was considered as a comparative vehicle in the ISINGLASS BGRV studies.
 
Hi,
here is an unknown lifting body wind tunnel model likely from the late 1950s, found on the bay (item #352715830838).
Interesting shape.
Enjoy.

A.

Seller description goes as follow:
"RARE - METAL WIND TUNNEL MODEL - LIFTING BODY - PRELUDE TO THE SPACE SHUTTLE, Circa 1959-60's
Lifting Body Technology was crucial to the development of the Space Shuttle Transportation System.
This wind tunnel model is made with an aluminum base and still wings. Approximately 6.25 inches.
A very fine space collectors artifact that is nearly impossible to find. It comes from the private collection of a space historian,
To learn more about Lifting Bodies - See: https://airandspace.si.edu/exhibitions/space-race/online/sec500/sec541.htm"
 

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Dynoman said:
Awesome information on the Alpha Draco! The Model 122B was considered as a comparative vehicle in the ISINGLASS BGRV studies.
Click to expand...

A case could be make, that ISINGLASS / RHEINBERRY was the true "missile with a man in it".
 
antigravite said:
Hi,
here is an unknown lifting body wind tunnel model likely from the late 1950s, found on the bay (item #352715830838).
Interesting shape.
Enjoy.

A.

Seller description goes as follow:
"RARE - METAL WIND TUNNEL MODEL - LIFTING BODY - PRELUDE TO THE SPACE SHUTTLE, Circa 1959-60's
Lifting Body Technology was crucial to the development of the Space Shuttle Transportation System.
This wind tunnel model is made with an aluminum base and still wings. Approximately 6.25 inches.
A very fine space collectors artifact that is nearly impossible to find. It comes from the private collection of a space historian,
To learn more about Lifting Bodies - See: https://airandspace.si.edu/exhibitions/space-race/online/sec500/sec541.htm"
Click to expand...
Looks like a NASA-AMES model tested around 1962.
 
antigravite said:
Hi,
here is an unknown lifting body wind tunnel model likely from the late 1950s, found on the bay (item #352715830838).
Interesting shape.
Enjoy.

A.

Seller description goes as follow:
"RARE - METAL WIND TUNNEL MODEL - LIFTING BODY - PRELUDE TO THE SPACE SHUTTLE, Circa 1959-60's
Lifting Body Technology was crucial to the development of the Space Shuttle Transportation System.
This wind tunnel model is made with an aluminum base and still wings. Approximately 6.25 inches.
A very fine space collectors artifact that is nearly impossible to find. It comes from the private collection of a space historian,
To learn more about Lifting Bodies - See: https://airandspace.si.edu/exhibitions/space-race/online/sec500/sec541.htm"
Click to expand...

Holy-heck! It's the wind tunnel model for the "Boost-Glide Reentry Vehicle suitable for Operation as a Supersonic Aircraft” from Tech Memorandum X-656 dated 1963! It came in two flavors:
1) The first was a bit crowded 6 person RV which after the wings folded down and the fins deployed it would blow off the nose cap, (triangular bit on the front) to open an air intake to two turbojet engines for fly-back and cruise.

2) Version two was a four-turbojet single seat Mach 2 FIGHTER aircraft that could be delivered by sub-orbital trajectory anywhere in the world in under an hour! IIRC Scott suggested in might have been proposed/studied as a possible "secure-the-airspace" concept to clear the airspace for an incoming "Ithacus" troop transport ballistic rocket. (Neat I found a link to an original presentation :) )

It appears to be one of the models where the wings were not fully 'hinged' so that is only a single wing-position setting. The wings would normally fold over the 'top' of the vehicle and the forward area sealed with a cover that would be jettisoned once reentry was completed. The wing would then fold down to 'level' and the fins to upright.

I don't even have to look to know I can't afford this but it's neat that at least one model still exists.

Randy
 

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