dpw@bonnie.UUCP (David P. Williams) (09/09/84)
The Sept. 3, 1984 issue of Aviation Week and Space Technology has a one-page article (p. 245) on the British Aerospace Dynamics proposal for a reusable unmanned launcher for medium-sized payloads (up to 16,000 lbs.). The Hotol ship (horizontal takeoff and landing) is being designed to become airborne using air-breathing engines and switch to liquid hydrogen/liquid oxygen fueled rocket engines to reach orbital velocity. There was no mention of a sled to get the Hotol up to speed for takeoff. The beast depicted in the accompanying diagram has canards, a shuttle-like wing, twin tails, and a sloping fuselage. The cargo compartment is located over the wing and main landing gear (27 feet long, 14 feet in diameter) sandwiched between the LH and LOX tanks. The goals for Hotol are per pound costs that are half those of the shuttle, no throwaway components, and an initial service date of 2004. The Hotol concept looks a bit like the Air Force mini-shuttle except that the Air Force wants to use a 747 to get their ship in the air and launched. Both are optimized for small payloads. The Aug. 27, 1984 issue of Av. Week has a two-page article on Soviet space launch capabilities at their Tyuratam launch complex. There are diagrams of their new (unlaunched) Saturn V class booster, an intermediate booster, and the two shuttle vehicles. The big shuttle does look a lot like the U.S. shuttle, complete with a covering of tiles, but the main rocket engines are all located on the external tank and two strap-on boosters. The big booster also uses strap-ons, and it will be able to loft about 300000 lbs. into low orbit. Someone hands the people at Av. Week the latest satellite photos, so they are reporting seeing the big booster stacked on a launching pad, a big shuttle strapped on the back of a Bison bomber for transport, and much construction work at Tyuratam of support facilities. David Williams AT&T Bell Labs Whippany, NJ bonnie!dpw