Random thought: If we have a launch-abort rocket system, could we use it to aid in TLI rather than just discarding it in LEO? | Propulsion Workgroup | Forum

Random thought: If we have a launch-abort rocket system, could we use it to aid in TLI rather than just discarding it in LEO?

Page: 1

No Tags

User

Post

8:52 am
November 17, 2009

brmj

Rochester, New York, United States

Member

posts 136

I think the title bassiclly speaks for itself.

Main work groups: Propulsion (booster), Spacecraft Engineering, Computer Systems, Navigation and Guidance (software)

10:04 am
November 17, 2009

Rocket-To-The-Moon

Grand Forks, North Dakota, USA

Member

posts 255

Very interesting thought. One thing to keep in mind is that these things are wickedly powerful. From the wikipedia article: "The crew were subjected to an acceleration of 14 to 17 g (140 to 170 m/s²) for five seconds."

If that much thrust were used to accelerate the entire crew module + service module it might be more tolerable.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L…..ape_system

On vacation through December 30, my participation will be lacking until after then. | Main Workgroups: Propulsion (Booster) & Spacecraft Engineering (Lander)

1:42 am
December 13, 2009

Snyder

Lakewood CO, USA

Member

posts 4

I believe these abort rockets are jettisoned well before orbit. They are tremendously powerful, but short lived and not built for efficiency.

Once you are in orbit, you would rather have a small (light) engine with high efficiency. Cast off the steel solid brute when it is still low and slow (first stage seperation) but when you have enough speed to coast for a while if you shut the upper stage down early.

9:48 pm
December 13, 2009

Luke Maurits

Adelaide, Australia

Admin

posts 396

Somehow I completely missed this thread when it was first posted!

Although I haven't voiced this opinion anywhere yet, I have been thinking for a while that we shouldn't bother with a launch-abort rocket system. I know that our design philosophy explicitly says we are not about taking undue risks in the name of simplicity, but Mercury and Apollo both had these systems, and Gemini had an ejection seat system, and as far as I know they none of them were ever actually used for their intended purpose. This suggests to me that (i) it is possible to make the launch platforms safe enough that these aren't strictly necessary and (ii) we can't really be all that certain that they would actually work, i.e. that there would be enough advance warning of a potential disaster to activate the launch abort rockets in time to save the crew.

Main workgroup: Navigation and Guidance. Side interests: Propulsion, Computer Systems, Communications. Skill set: Mathematics major, good knowledge of Newtonian physics, decent programming (Python, C, Java, PHP)

No Tags

Page: 1

You must be logged in to post	Login Register

Forum | Random thought: If we have a launch-abort rocket system, could we use it to aid in TLI rather than just discarding it in LEO?