METEOR: city in space

[Orionblamblam]

In the early/mid 1950's, work was performed at Goodyear Aircraft on the METEOR concept ("Manned Earth-Satellite Terminal Evolving From Earth-To-Orbit Ferry Rockets"). This was somewhat similar to the "Colliers" space program as envisioned by von Braun and others... just not so small and limited. The space station envisioned was something more like Babylon 5 than vonBrauns' "Wheel." The space station envisioned was something more like Babylon 5 than vonBrauns' "Wheel." 2,500 feet long (that's right, prit near half a mile) and 1,500 feet in diameter, the METEOR space station would be assembled in orbit by stripping the third stage of a reusable launch vehicle for parts over a period of 40 months or so.

METEOR was so much better than current plans that it's not *even* funny... :'(

 

[Michel Van]

oh year much more fun as ISS

the METEOR in 1955 had a size of
300 meterø x 900 meter long tube, with disk 450 mø 12 m tick.
with crew of 5000 men ?
this is more a Bablyon X-1 ;D

only 2500-3000 shuttle launches over 3,5 years or two per day
how long they work on ISS now? :

 

[Grif]

And to whet your appetite:

http://blog.modernmechanix.com/2006/05/11/all-aboard-for-outer-space/

Grif

 

[Triton]

Goodyear METEOR Jr. 3-Stage Fully Reusable Rocket Concept model found in the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum Collections Database web site. Previous drawing identifies it as "Ferry Rocket."

From the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum Collections Database:

In 1954, several years before spaceflight began, space enthusiast Darrell C. Romick and two other Goodyear Aircraft workers designed this model of a reusable space transportation system and displayed it at the American Rocket Society's annual conference. Three piloted, winged rocket stages nested in a column would fire in sequence to launch the third stage at the top into orbit. All had retractable landing gear and could be flown as a glider during the return to landing. Although the concept was too massive to be practical at the time, it was an early vision for a space shuttle that could ferry people and equipment to and from an Earth-orbiting space station. The Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company gave this model to the Museum in 1980.

 

[Triton]

Concept artwork of METEOR rockets in an airship hanger published in When Giants Roamed the Sky: Karl Arnstein and the Rise of Airships from Zeppelin to Goodyear by Dale Topping.

Even before the Soviet satellite Sputnik opened the eyes of the world to space travel, Goodyear Aircraft Corporation developed an ambitious proposal for a reusable, manned space vehicle. This artist's concept depicts the nearly 200-foot (60 m) high Air Dock filled with Goodyear "Meteor, Jr." rockets undergoing assembly and a large rigid airship occupying the remainder of the hangar. (Lockheed Martin)

 

[hesham]

Concept artwork of METEOR rockets in an airship hanger published in When Giants Roamed the Sky: Karl Arnstein and the Rise of Airships from Zeppelin to Goodyear by Dale Topping.

Even before the Soviet satellite Sputnik opened the eyes of the world to space travel, Goodyear Aircraft Corporation developed an ambitious proposal for a reusable, manned space vehicle. This artist's concept depicts the nearly 200-foot (60 m) high Air Dock filled with Goodyear "Meteor, Jr." rockets undergoing assembly and a large rigid airship occupying the remainder of the hangar. (Lockheed Martin)

I sent it before;
http://www.secretprojects.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,2504.msg55047/highlight,goodyear+space.html#msg55047

 

[RyanC]

So that's what this is ;D

 

[Orionblamblam]

So that's what this is ;D

Yup. SIGH. Must I do all of my own self promotion for me?
http://www.up-ship.com/drawndoc/drawndocspaceother.htm#spacedoc55

 

[RanulfC]

SIGH. Must I do all of my own self promotion for me?
http://www.up-ship.com/drawndoc/drawndocspaceother.htm#spacedoc55

Why yes... Yes you do... In fact we DEMAND not only SELF promotion, but SHAMELESS self promotion!

As with "nuking-the-site-from-orbit" it is after all the ONLY way to be sure....

Randy

 

[Michel Van]

Why yes... Yes you do... In fact we DEMAND not only SELF promotion, but SHAMELESS self promotion!

As with "nuking-the-site-from-orbit" it is after all the ONLY way to be sure....

Randy

no no no
he just remind me that i forgot to order the METEOR PDF at
http://www.up-ship.com/
the best aerospace site with best price-quality ratio !
:

 

[hesham]

Hi,


here is the Goodyear Meteor.


https://archive.org/stream/missilesrockets3195unse#page/n139/mode/2up

 

[hesham]

And,


https://archive.org/stream/missilesrockets3195unse#page/n315/mode/2up

 

[hesham]

And;


https://archive.org/stream/missilesrockets6196unse#page/n671/mode/2up

 

[Barrington Bond]

Enjoy!

 

[hesham]

Hi,

a many jets powered Goodyear proposal in this artist drawing ?;

http://blog.modernmechanix.com/all-aboard-for-outer-space/3/#mmGal

 

[Grey Havoc]

Hi,

a many jets powered Goodyear proposal in this artist drawing ?;

http://blog.modernmechanix.com/all-aboard-for-outer-space/3/#mmGal

Seems to have been attachable jets for ferrying the spacecraft from landing sites back to the launch sites, in cases where the two were not in close proximity.

 

[hesham]

From Oltre il Cielo 1959 02

 

[hesham]

Did we send this picture before ?.

 

[publiusr]

I don’t remember it.

 

[Deleted member 4286]

A AW 1957 article

 

[Scott Kenny]

Man, building that would have taken ALL the spacewalks! (where's the "mind blown" emoji when you need one?!?)

 

[Orionblamblam]

Man, building that would have taken ALL the spacewalks!

An almost certainly a lot of deaths.

And it would have been worth it.

 

[Justo Miranda]

Hi

 

[Scott Kenny]

An almost certainly a lot of deaths.

Pretty much any construction project means injuries or deaths.

Construction in space would mean a lot more deaths and fewer injuries.

And it would have been worth it.

Likely so.

Kinda wish Kennedy had pushed this idea to get one up on the Soviets...

 

[martinbayer]

An almost certainly a lot of deaths.

And it would have been worth it.

I think that any potential loss of life could have been easily minimized by applying an actual engineering way less cartoonish design approach. As NBC is wont to say, The More You Know...

 

[RanulfC]

I think that any potential loss of life could have been easily minimized by applying an actual engineering way less cartoonish design approach. As NBC is wont to say, The More You Know...

The main issue is we've never had a good 'reason' to design and construct "working" space suits. We found out quickly that several design constraints and operational requirements were a lot more difficult and dangerous than we thought. METEOR was supposed to be built (as noted) with many EVA's and generally use "standard" construction techniques used on Earth both of which turned out to be a less viable for space use. Simple acts were more difficult to do and normal 'construction' techniques simply would not work the same and the effort to do so was secondary to the main "goals" of simply getting things done as part of a rivalry between the East and West.

Randyu

 

[Prophet141]

I'm not so sure that naming a space station after a fiery and destructive reentry event is a good idea...

On a more serious note, what was the intended purpose for a station of this size in the 1960s? Orbital manufacturing? R&D taken to the extreme? One-upping the Soviets?

 

[RanulfC]

I'm not so sure that naming a space station after a fiery and destructive reentry event is a good idea...

On a more serious note, what was the intended purpose for a station of this size in the 1960s? Orbital manufacturing? R&D taken to the extreme? One-upping the Soviets?

An orbital port. Shuttles from Earth would bring materials and people to the station where they'd transfer to orbital spacecraft. As such it would need business and manufacturing that would support the traffic and service the passengers.

Randy

 

[Scott Kenny]

An orbital port. Shuttles from Earth would bring materials and people to the station where they'd transfer to orbital spacecraft. As such it would need business and manufacturing that would support the traffic and service the passengers.

Randy

More likely, it would take shipments from out in space and trans ship them for reentry, but we might figure out some good processes for zero gee manufacturing.

Imagine being the owner of 75,000,000 tons of nickel-iron, in one asteroid. Or 7,500 tons of gold (iirc, that's 3x the total amount of gold mined on earth throughout history). 7,500 tons of iridium. Or any of the other "rare earths" that are rather common in asteroids.

 

[publiusr]

Inflatables might assist metal recovery:

New hydrogel can stretch to 15 times its original size

A team of molecular engineers at Tsinghua University, in China, has developed a new type of hydrogel that can stretch to 15 times its original size and then snap back to its original form. In their study, published in the journal Science, the group modified the process normally used to create...

phys.org

Now, a lot of ideas of self replicating probes I assume are of the “dry” variety:

A Self-Reproducing Interstellar Probe

Mass drivers to push..and all that.
But wet technology (I didn’t say wet workshop Byeman!)—might be the answer.

I can see inflatable “cells”…with artificial DNA digesting asteroids and extruding metal perhaps in a wire with minimal mechanics.

It is easier to drag a wire than an ingot if the same mass.

Inflatables catch the Sun and move wire segments perhaps.

 

[Prophet141]

More likely, it would take shipments from out in space and trans ship them for reentry, but we might figure out some good processes for zero gee manufacturing.

Imagine being the owner of 75,000,000 tons of nickel-iron, in one asteroid. Or 7,500 tons of gold (iirc, that's 3x the total amount of gold mined on earth throughout history). 7,500 tons of iridium. Or any of the other "rare earths" that are rather common in asteroids.

Minor correction, the amount of gold we've mined on Each is closer to 200,000 tons. With that being said, there are asteroids with megatons of gold (or more) so the point stands.

 

[Scott Kenny]

Minor correction, the amount of gold we've mined on Each is closer to 200,000 tons. With that being said, there are asteroids with megatons of gold (or more) so the point stands.

How'd I stuff that up?

I hate having weird data stuck in my brain...