Douglas Astro delta-wing spacecraft

hesham

hesham

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Hi,

the Douglas Astro was delta-wing vehicle and spacecraft,it was
combined aircraft and rocketry concepts.
http://www.flightglobal.com/FlightPDFArchive/1963/1963%20-%201667.pdf
 

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From I.I. Shuneyko's 'Winged Spaceships" (1966)
 

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Looks a bit like the British MUSTARD, though I suppose there are only a limited number of shapes for spacecraft.
 
Oh, look! In the corner of the Douglas add, it would seem Starfleet contracted Douglas to join four K-7 space stations together. :D
 
XP67_Moonbat said:
Oh, look! In the corner of the Douglas ad, it would seem Starfleet contracted Douglas to join four K-7 space stations together. :D
Click to expand...

Got it backwards. The "K-7" was copied from some earlier Douglas space station module designs.

 

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...Those space stations bring only one question to mind: how did they clean up all the Tribbles?


:D
 
Hmmm, that looks familiar. Think I've seen a small b/w of that in some mag but hadn't twigged that it was Astro.

Thank you Scott,
Regards,
Barry
 
Text by Marcus Lindroos from the late Space pages:

The Douglas "Astro" was a VTHL TSTO system designed for launching space station crews and cargo by the 1968-70 period. A key requirement was that off-the-shelf technologies must be used, e.g. existing M-1, J-2 and RL-10 engines from the Saturn and Nova expendable launch vehicle programs. Both stages are manned and employ lifting-body configurations. The (empty/gross) mass fraction was quite high (0.89 for the booster,0.844 for the orbiter) and the designers attributed this to the thick-wing lifting body configuration which results in less weight due to lower stresses and thermal loads during reentry.

After separating from the orbiter at an altitude of 82km, the booster would make an unpowered landing 830km from the launch site since it has no jet engines for atmospheric cruise. The flight rate assumptions were quite high: 240 flights per year for a fleet of 12 boosters & 24 orbiters with a turnaround time between missions of less than 18 days. A mobile launcher erector would eliminate the need for large gantrys. The planned service life was 100 flights for the orbiter and 200 flights for the booster. The engines would have been capable of 50 firings between major overhaul (the airframes would last up to 300 flights).

Development cost: $1.2 billion [1964 dollars -- $6.45B in FY 1999]. Marginal cost per mission: $1.5M (=$41/lb at 1964 economic conditions; $485/kg in 1999).

Liftoff Thrust: . Total Mass: 407,870kg. Total Length: 49m.

Payload capability: 16,851kg payload to 555km 28.5 degree orbit.

Stage Number 1: 1 x M-1 plus 2 x J-2. Gross Mass: 302,183kg. Empty Mass 32,558kg. Thrust: . Isp: Length: 29m. Span: 18.6m. Propellants: LOX/LH2.

Stage Number 2: 2 x RL-10 plus 1 x J-2. Gross Mass: 89,290kg. Empty Mass 14,000kg. Thrust: . Isp: Length: 20.7m. Span: 13.4m. Propellants: LOX/LH2.

Source:
”ASTRO Concept” -- Root & Fuller, Astronautics & Aeronautics 1964/January/p.42
Click to expand...
http://web.archive.org/web/20050310234602/www.abo.fi/~mlindroo/SpaceLVs/Slides/sld006.htm
 

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A great vehicle..on the paper.
But,would work?
In yours opinion this Douglas astro could be a valid space transportation system ?
 
Pretty much as valid (or unvalid) as any other rocket propelled TSTO from that timeframe, like the Junkers RT-8, the Martin Astrorocket, the BAC MUSTARD, and any other number of RLV studies from the Sixties...

Martin
 
My usual luck! :'(
The spaceplane project that i like more,the Douglas Astro,is that with less information and concept art drawings.
 
"From the January 1964 issue of Astronautics & Aeroonautics."

Thank you. Exactly what I needed to firmly visualise the 'hero model' for a story...
 

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