Re[6]: Are You Prepared?

[Richard Welty <rwelty@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Tue, 15 Jul 2003 17:51:15 -0500 Ryan Moore <baradium@domain.elided> wrote:
"Richard Welty" <rwelty@domain.elided>
> > one of my web pages:

> > http://www.averillpark.net/space/booster.html

> Neat information, what determines whether a rocket is man rated or not?
 
> Requirements?

there are some reliability standards, etc., that are of concern. the Atlas,
for example, started as an ICBM (as did many, many heavy lift boosters, for
example the current russian Soyuz is a mildly evolved R7, which was the
first true ICBM), and the reliabily requirements for lofting nukes were not
quite as high as the requirements for launching astronauts. the Atlas with
its wacky ballon tanks was actually engineered to very tight tolerances
aimed at minimum weight (the lighter the superstructure of the launch
vehicle, the more fuel you can devote to lifting the payload.) it makes for
a good ICBM, but takes a lot of review before you're quite willing to put
people on it.
 
> > now if anyone actually wanted to talk about heavy lift boosters,
> > offtopic@domain.elided would be a good place to do it.

> Is that a hint?  :-D

well, it started as a LEO joke, but ihc folks might have a natural
interested in heavy lift at that.

cheers,
  richard
--
Richard Welty                                         rwelty@domain.elided
Averill Park Networking                                         518-573-7592
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