Let Me Play Among The Stars (A Space Program Plan Quest)
- Thread starter 4WheelSword
- Start date
- Original Alt. History
)
C1R1 - January 1950 - Jury-Rigged Test Stand
4WheelSword
The original N-body Problem
- Pronouns
- It/She/They
The sky is clear as she steps up onto the roof of the most Westerly building of what is becoming known to locals as the PEAC complex. She smiles warmly at the assembly of the staff, most of them secretaries and draughtsmen taking a few minutes out of their day to take in a show. A hand touches her elbow, drawing her attention.
"Madame Director. An auspicious day." Apolline murmurs, voice low,
"It is?"
"Fine weather, a good turnout. Just what one might want for opening night." She reaches out a finger to touch the frame of the mother of pearl and brass opera glasses hanging around Hedwig's neck. From most it would be overly familiar but somehow Apolline Touissant makes it seem so casual.
"I think some in attendance are expecting a pretty explosion." Hedwig responds, a faint heat rising in her cheeks, "What about you?"
"Please, I'm as invested in success as anyone here. How am I supposed to create the future if the future doesn't function?"
"How is it going in Research?"
Apolline huffs out a sigh, waving a hand dismissively.
"It proceeds. We are unfocused and distracted. Half of my team was 'borrowed' by Mr Andersson to ensure this test would be ready in time. At some point we are going to have to discuss priorities or we will never advance." It is not a question but a statement of fact. She draws a packet of cigarettes and a small, silver lighter from her purse, "Care for one?"
Before Hedwig can answer a shout goes up from the hastily erected test stand a half mile away. Raising her glasses, she watches as Arne and his machine shop engineers hurry away from what looks like a stone-walled shack. One wall is completely missing and she could just make out the tip of an engine bell poking out into the sunlight. The opposite side has a pair of tanks, fuel supplies for the hundred kilogram rocket engine that was tucked away in the shade. One of them is steaming gently, chilled to ensure the pressurised oxygen inside remains a liquid.
"How long do you think-" She hears someone begin to ask and even as the words reach her ears she sees the first coughs of mixed gases vent from the distant engine bell. There is a flash, a spark in the haze, and then with seemingly no delay it roars into life. One moment it is leaking fuel and the next it is a blaze of burning ethanol and oxygen. The sound doesn't reach her for more than two seconds, a strange silent tableau of flame and smoke. When it does reach her it's a shockwave, a continuous bomb blast that rattles windows and sets her teeth on edge.
Just as soon as it has started it stops. With a splutter and a resounding crack echoing across the complex the testing shed disappears in a billowing cloud.
"What happened?" Apolline asks, lit cigarette still dangling from between her fingers.
"Plumbing failure," Hedwig responds, "I'd guess a feed line split but we won't know for sure until Arne can get back in there. And that won't happen until the entire fuel tank has purged itself."
"Shame." Apolline says, taking a drag on her cigarette before dropping it to the ground and crushing it underfoot.
6-10 - Partial failure: The element is not as capable as expected or it has several minor issues likely to affect its capabilities. Add -1 Reliability, Safety or Control to the part.
It was a feed line split, Arne had concluded. She read the after-action report meticulously - he had done a good job, as careful and precise as could be expected from an engineer. Unfortunately there was little he could currently do to resolve the issue. The PEAC program would simply have to hope that it held together during a flight.
They would keep working on it in the meantime, but there was far more to think about if the program was ever going to complete its first mission.
Where will PEAC be focusing its efforts in February:
[ ] You have an engine, now you need a booster to incorporate it - Design a Booster
[ ] Before you can design a vehicle, you need to know what it will be launching - Design a Payload
[ ] Etholox will be perfectly adequate for initial flights, but the program will soon need better choices - Research Fuels
[ ] These primitive engine designs are far more liable to fail without ever achieving success - Research Engines
"Madame Director. An auspicious day." Apolline murmurs, voice low,
"It is?"
"Fine weather, a good turnout. Just what one might want for opening night." She reaches out a finger to touch the frame of the mother of pearl and brass opera glasses hanging around Hedwig's neck. From most it would be overly familiar but somehow Apolline Touissant makes it seem so casual.
"I think some in attendance are expecting a pretty explosion." Hedwig responds, a faint heat rising in her cheeks, "What about you?"
"Please, I'm as invested in success as anyone here. How am I supposed to create the future if the future doesn't function?"
"How is it going in Research?"
Apolline huffs out a sigh, waving a hand dismissively.
"It proceeds. We are unfocused and distracted. Half of my team was 'borrowed' by Mr Andersson to ensure this test would be ready in time. At some point we are going to have to discuss priorities or we will never advance." It is not a question but a statement of fact. She draws a packet of cigarettes and a small, silver lighter from her purse, "Care for one?"
Before Hedwig can answer a shout goes up from the hastily erected test stand a half mile away. Raising her glasses, she watches as Arne and his machine shop engineers hurry away from what looks like a stone-walled shack. One wall is completely missing and she could just make out the tip of an engine bell poking out into the sunlight. The opposite side has a pair of tanks, fuel supplies for the hundred kilogram rocket engine that was tucked away in the shade. One of them is steaming gently, chilled to ensure the pressurised oxygen inside remains a liquid.
"How long do you think-" She hears someone begin to ask and even as the words reach her ears she sees the first coughs of mixed gases vent from the distant engine bell. There is a flash, a spark in the haze, and then with seemingly no delay it roars into life. One moment it is leaking fuel and the next it is a blaze of burning ethanol and oxygen. The sound doesn't reach her for more than two seconds, a strange silent tableau of flame and smoke. When it does reach her it's a shockwave, a continuous bomb blast that rattles windows and sets her teeth on edge.
Just as soon as it has started it stops. With a splutter and a resounding crack echoing across the complex the testing shed disappears in a billowing cloud.
"What happened?" Apolline asks, lit cigarette still dangling from between her fingers.
"Plumbing failure," Hedwig responds, "I'd guess a feed line split but we won't know for sure until Arne can get back in there. And that won't happen until the entire fuel tank has purged itself."
"Shame." Apolline says, taking a drag on her cigarette before dropping it to the ground and crushing it underfoot.
6-10 - Partial failure: The element is not as capable as expected or it has several minor issues likely to affect its capabilities. Add -1 Reliability, Safety or Control to the part.
| XRE-2 | Mass Ratio | Mass Flow | Isp | Thrust | Mass | Cost |
| Engine | 250/1 | 161s | 17.27kN | 0.438M | 0.907C | |
| Motor | 0.0625 | 169s | 0.25M | 0.438C | ||
| Nozzle | 161s | 0.188M | 0.469C | |||
Control | Reliability | Stability | ||||
-2 | -3 | 0 | ||||
| Primitive cycle, Dual-split injector (70%), Basic nozzle, Alc(25%)/LOX fuel |
It was a feed line split, Arne had concluded. She read the after-action report meticulously - he had done a good job, as careful and precise as could be expected from an engineer. Unfortunately there was little he could currently do to resolve the issue. The PEAC program would simply have to hope that it held together during a flight.
They would keep working on it in the meantime, but there was far more to think about if the program was ever going to complete its first mission.
Where will PEAC be focusing its efforts in February:
[ ] You have an engine, now you need a booster to incorporate it - Design a Booster
[ ] Before you can design a vehicle, you need to know what it will be launching - Design a Payload
[ ] Etholox will be perfectly adequate for initial flights, but the program will soon need better choices - Research Fuels
[ ] These primitive engine designs are far more liable to fail without ever achieving success - Research Engines
- Pronouns
- She/Her
[X] Before you can design a vehicle, you need to know what it will be launching - Design a Payload
samdamandias
Apprentice Plane Wizard
[X] Before you can design a vehicle, you need to know what it will be launching - Design a Payload
In order to send something UP we need to know what we are sending UP with the most UP we can get.
In order to send something UP we need to know what we are sending UP with the most UP we can get.
[X] Before you can design a vehicle, you need to know what it will be launching - Design a Payload
Now you're thinking with UP!
- Location
- Fort Worth, TX
[X] These primitive engine designs are far more liable to fail without ever achieving success - Research Engines
- Pronouns
- He/She/They
[X] These primitive engine designs are far more liable to fail without ever achieving success - Research Engines
Design Rules
4WheelSword
The original N-body Problem
- Pronouns
- It/She/They
For those engaging with the design rules, I've added the prototype of the Payload Design Rules into the document.
The doc can be found here. You have comment access and feel welcome to discuss it in thread too.
The doc can be found here. You have comment access and feel welcome to discuss it in thread too.
- Location
- United States
[X] Before you can design a vehicle, you need to know what it will be launching - Design a Payload
C1T2 February 1950 - Franco-Irish relations
4WheelSword
The original N-body Problem
- Pronouns
- It/She/They
Hedwig stands by her office window, staring out at Dublin Airport and its long, flat runway. An Avro Tudor in Air Charter colours has just set down and is taxiing towards the terminal. Nose pointing towards the sky it seems like it's eager to be flying again. She wonders for a moment if she misses it, the jet-setting lifestyle of being a Hollywood star. She could be flying first class on the newest air liners instead of flying a desk in a grey little building in a grey little city.
Then she thinks about the drawings and the plans and the discussion she just had over lunch with a member of Apolline's research team. They had proposed a rocket capable of carrying a scientist up into space to make direct, first-hand observations of the conditions up there. They would stand vertically for the flight, wearing a heated suit like high-altitude bomber crews and with a porthole to see out of. Once the rocket was tumbling back towards the earth they would simply wait for the opportune moment before ejecting and parachuting back to the ground, arms full of notes and recordings from on board instruments.
Would she trade that conversation for another chance to star alongside Bill Gable? No, she thinks, no she probably wouldn't. Even if the food was notably worse.
A knock on her office door brings her out of her thoughts. She takes a moment to straighten her clothes and return behind her desk.
"Come in." she calls. The door opens and a round, smiling face peeks around it, "Dan! Come, sit."
"Afternoon, Director." He slides into the chair opposite her easily, dropping a handful of folders on her desk, "I've just been cornered by Apolline."
"Uh-oh. Is she still fuming that we're not letting her buy a tanker of nitric acid?"
"I'm not rising to that pun, Miss Bräuner, it's unbecoming." he smiles, relaxing back into his seat, "No, she's gotten distracted by the idea of experimental rocket headers."
"That's brilliant news!" Hedwig says, only pausing when she sees his expression, "Isn't it?"
He reaches out a finger to tap the folders he placed on her desk, his smile turning a little sour.
"We're going to need one, I can't imagine-" she pulls the folders over to her, flipping through the first of them, "This is a two ton payload."
"It is, yes."
"Well I can't say I don't appreciate a certain boldness of vision. These other ones?"
"Oh, much more reasonable," Dan intertwines his fingers, resting them on his stomach, "We've got options here for payload recovery by parachute, full vehicle recovery by parachute, transmitted data from a disposable launch vehicle. It's all real stirring, visionary stuff. I just thought you might want to see exactly what she has in mind for the future."
Hedwig sighs, flipping through the folders. Most of it is as he said, reasonable, buildable and at least somewhat affordable. The first is a real outlier, given that it would require a rocket an order of magnitude more capable that the one currently being designed. Still, she thinks, it's certainly one to file away for the future.
She does some quick mental calculations, frowning to herself.
"A hundred kilograms. That's her mass limit for the payload." Hedwig finally says with a determined tone.
"I'll let her know. In the meantime, I have a question for you about staffing issues."
What payload option do you want to design?
[ ] Recoverable separating payload
[ ] Vehicle recovery by parachute.
[ ] Disposable vehicle utilising radio transmission.
- Location
- Fort Worth, TX
[X] Recoverable separating payload
[x] Disposable vehicle utilising radio transmission.
- Pronouns
- She/Her
[X] Recoverable separating payload
Recovering the whole vehicle will impose monstrous mass penalties, and radio transmission is too limited.
I really do want to do engine pod recovery ASAP tho. It would be invaluable to examine machinery that has flown.
Also:
Me:
Recovering the whole vehicle will impose monstrous mass penalties, and radio transmission is too limited.
I really do want to do engine pod recovery ASAP tho. It would be invaluable to examine machinery that has flown.
Also:
Me:
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4WheelSword
The original N-body Problem
- Pronouns
- It/She/They
I would be interested to know what sort of thing you're thinking in that regard.
Also, if anyone wants to use this opportunity to try to payload design rules linked, now would be a good time! (Not required, I'll be doing a few examples sooner or later)
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Ok, It's time to talk about our lord and saviour, SMART.
As we can see, 3/4 of first stage costs are concentrated in the engine and ancillary equipment, and only 1/4 in the tank structure.
However that relationship reverses for the first stage dry mass, with 2/3 of the total mass being in the tankage.
Thus by recovering the lightweight engine pod, we can save a ton of effort constantly building new rockets that we throw away.
Now we're doing sounding rockets right now, so we just need to add parachutes to the engine pod instead of bothering with TPS.
Recovering all that turbo-machinery and controls is also a gold mine of information about how our systems behave in flight. We can see where stress fractures occurred, if there was any buckling from excessive loading, how much wear and tear the turbo-machinery acquired and what kind. This is all really valuable to designing our next rocket because we can address those incipient failure modes, especially at this extremely early stage of rocketry.
Essentially, the extra mass of the engine pod parachute and ejection system is subtracted from our payload.
- Location
- Someone else's head
[X] Recoverable separating payload