Reusable spacecraft
By reusable spacecraft is meant such a device, the design of which allows you to reuse the entire ship or its main parts. The first experience in this field was the Space Shuttle space shuttle. Then the task of creating a similar apparatus was set by the Soviet scientists, as a result of which Buran appeared.
In both countries, design and other devices. At the moment, the most notable example of projects of this type is the partially reusable Falcon 9 from SpaceX with a returnable first stage.
Today we will talk about why such projects were developed, how they showed themselves from the point of view of efficiency and what are the prospects for this area of ​​astronautics.
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The history of space shuttles began in 1967, before the first manned flight under the Apollo program. On October 30, 1968, NASA approached American space companies with a proposal to work out a reusable space system in order to reduce the cost of each launch and for each kilogram of payload put into orbit.
The government was offered several projects, but each of them cost at least five billion US dollars, so Richard Nixon rejected them. NASA's plans were extremely ambitious: the project implied the work of an orbital station, to which, and from which, the shuttles would constantly carry payloads. Shuttles also had to launch and return satellites from orbit, maintain and repair satellites in orbit, and conduct manned missions.
The final requirements for the ship looked like this:
The decision was the creation of the shuttle, the investment in which was to be recouped due to the launch of satellites on a commercial basis. For the success of the project, it was important to minimize the cost of putting each kilogram of cargo into orbit. In 1969, the creator of the project talked about reducing the cost to 40-100 US dollars per kilogram, while for Saturn-V this figure was 2000 dollars.
To launch into space, the shuttles used two solid rocket boosters and three own cruise engines. Solid rocket boosters were separated at an altitude of 45 kilometers, then they landed in the ocean, were repaired and reused. The main engines use liquid hydrogen and oxygen in the outboard fuel tank, which was thrown away at an altitude of 113 kilometers, after which it partially burned in the atmosphere.
The first prototype of the Space Shuttle was the Enterprise, named after the ship from the Star Trek series. The ship was tested for aerodynamics and tested for ability to land when planning. Columbia was the first to go to space on April 12, 1981. In fact, this was also a test launch, although there was a crew of two astronauts aboard: commander John Young and pilot Robert Crippen. Then everything went well. Unfortunately, this particular shuttle crashed in 2003 with seven crew members, on the 28th launch. The same fate was at the "Challenger" - he endured 9 starts, and on the tenth - suffered a crash. 7 crew members died.
Although NASA planned 24 launches each year in 1985, for 30 years of using the shuttle, they took off and returned 135 times. Two of them are unfortunate. Record for the number of starts was the shuttle "Discovery" - he experienced 39 starts. "Atlantis" withstood 33 starts, "Columbia" - 28, "Endeavor" - 25 and "Challenger" - 10.
Challenger, 1983
Shuttle Discovery, Atlantis and Endeavor were used to deliver cargo to the International Space Station and to the Mir station.
The cost of delivering goods to orbit in the case of Space Shuttles was the highest in the entire history of astronautics. Each launch cost from 500 million to 1.3 billion dollars, each kilogram - from 13 to 17 thousand dollars. For comparison, the Soyuz one-time launch vehicle is capable of launching cargo into space at a price ranging from 4,242 to 11,265 dollars per kilogram. The program "Space Shuttle" was planned as self-sustaining, but in the end it became one of the most unprofitable.
Shuttle "Atlantis", ready for the STS-129 expedition to deliver equipment, materials and spare parts to the International Space Station. November 2009
The last flight of the Space Shuttle program took place in 2011. On July 21 of that year, Atlantis returned to Earth. The last landing of "Atlantis" marked the end of an era. Details on what was planned and what happened in the program “Space Shuttle”, read in this article .
In the USSR it was decided that the characteristics of the Space Shuttle allow abducting Soviet satellites or an entire space station from orbit: the shuttle could launch 29.5 tons of cargo into orbit, and lower it to 14.5 tons. Taking into account plans of 60 launches per year, this is 1,770 tons annually, although at that time the United States did not send into space and 150 tons per year. It was supposed to descend 820 tons per year, although usually nothing descended from orbit. The drawings and photos of the shuttle suggested that the American ship could attack the USSR from any point of near-Earth space with the help of nuclear ammunition, being out of line of sight.
To protect against a possible attack at the Salyut and Almaz stations, they installed a modernized 23-mm automatic gun NR-23. And in order to keep up with the American brothers in the military space, the Union began to develop the orbital spacecraft-rocket-plane of the reusable space system Buran .
The development of a reusable space system began in April 1973. The idea itself had many supporters and opponents. The head of the Institute of the Ministry of Defense for military space insured and made two reports at once - in favor of and against the program, and both of these reports were on the table of D. F. Ustinov, Minister of Defense of the USSR. He contacted Valentin Glushko, who was in charge of the program, but he sent his staff member at Energomash, Valeria Burdakov, to meet instead of him. After talking about the military capabilities of the Space Shuttle and the Soviet counterpart, Ustinov prepared a solution according to which the development of a reusable spacecraft received the highest priority. For the creation of the ship began to set up for these purposes NGO "Lightning".
According to the plan of the Ministry of Defense of the USSR, the objectives of Buran were: countering the actions of a potential enemy to expand the use of outer space for military purposes, solving problems in the interests of defense, the national economy and science, conducting military applied research and experiments using weapons on known and new physical principles as well as launching, servicing and returning to earth of space vehicles, astronauts and cargo.
Unlike NASA, which the crew had risked during the first manned flight of the shuttle, the Buran made its first flight automatically using an onboard computer based on the IBM System / 370. The launch took place on November 15, 1988, the Energia launch vehicle launched a spacecraft into Earth orbit from the Baikonur cosmodrome. The ship made two orbits around the Earth and landed at the Yubileiny airfield.
During the landing an incident occurred that showed how clever the automatic system was. At an altitude of 11 kilometers, the ship made a sharp maneuver and described a loop with a turn of 180 degrees — that is, sat down, having entered from the other end of the runway. This decision was made by the automatics after receiving data on the storm wind in order to enter the most favorable trajectory.
Automatic mode was one of the main differences from the shuttle. In addition, the shuttles boarded with the engine off and could not land several times. For the rescue of the crew in the "Buran" provided a catapult for the first two pilots. In fact, the designers from the USSR copied the configuration of the shuttles, which was not denied, but made a number of extremely useful innovations from the point of control of the vehicle and the safety of the crew.
Unfortunately, the first flight of the Buran was the last . In 1990, the work was suspended, and in 1993 - completely closed.
As sometimes happens with the objects of pride of the nation, version 2.01 “Baikal”, which they wanted to send to space, rotted for many years on the quay of the Khimki reservoir.
You could touch the story in 2011. Moreover, then from this story, people could even tear off pieces of plating and heat-protective coating . In that year, the ship was brought from Khimki to Zhukovsky, to be restored and presented at MAKS a couple of years later.
"Buran" from the inside
Delivery of "Buran" from Khimki to Zhukovsky
"Buran" at MAKS, 2011, a month after the start of the restoration
Despite the economic inexpediency, which the Space Shuttle program showed, the United States decided not to abandon reusable spacecraft projects. In 1999, NASA, together with Boeing, began developing the X-37 drone. There are versions according to which the device is intended for running-in of technologies of future space interceptors capable of incapacitating other devices. Experts in the USA are inclined to believe this.
The device made three flights with a maximum duration of 674 days. At the moment he makes the fourth flight, the launch date is May 20, 2015.
The orbital flying laboratory of the Boeing X-37 carries a mass of payload up to 900 kilograms. Compared with the Space Shuttle and the Buran, capable of carrying up to 30 tons during takeoff, the Boeing is a baby. But he has other goals. The start of the mini-shuttles was laid by Austrian physicist Eigen Zenger, when in 1934 he began to develop a long-range missile bomber. The project was closed, recalling it in 1944, by the end of World War II, but it was too late to save Germany from defeat with the help of such a bomber. In October 1957, the Americans continued the idea by launching the X-20 Dyna-Soar program.
The X-20 orbital aircraft was able, after entering the suborbital trajectory, to dive into the atmosphere to an altitude of 40-60 kilometers in order to take a photo or drop a bomb, and then return to space on a lift force from the wings.
The project was closed in 1963 in favor of the Gemini civil program and the military project of the MOL orbital station.
Titan launch vehicles for launching X-20 into orbit
Layout X-20
In the USSR in 1969, they began to build the BOR, an unmanned orbital rocket plane. The first launch was carried out without thermal protection, which is why the device burned down. The second rocket glider crashed due to unopened parachutes after successfully braking on the atmosphere. In the next five launches, only once BOR did not go into orbit. Despite the loss of devices, each new start brought important data for further development. With the help of BOR-4 in the 1980s, they tested heat protection for the future of Buran.
In the framework of the program "Spiral", for which the "BOR" was built, it was supposed to develop a dispersal plane that would rise to a height of 30 kilometers at a speed of up to 6 speeds of sound to bring the orbiter into orbit. This part of the program did not take place. The Defense Ministry demanded an analogue of the American shuttle, so that the forces were thrown on the Buran.
BOR-4
BOR-4
If the Soviet "Buran" was partially copied from the American "Space Shuttle", then in the case of the "Dream Chaser" everything happened exactly the opposite: the abandoned project "BOR", namely the rocket-plane version of "BOR-4", became the basis for creating reusable spacecraft from the company SpaceDev. Rather, the “Space Chaser” is based on the copied HL-20 orbital plane.
Work on Running for a Dream began in 2004, and in 2007, SpaceDev agreed with the United Launch Alliance on using Atlas-5 missiles to launch. The first successful tests in a wind tunnel were held in 2012. The first flight prototype was dropped from a helicopter from a height of 3.8 kilometers on October 26, 2013.
According to the designers' plans, the cargo version of the ship will be able to deliver up to 5.5 tons to the International Space Station, and return up to 1.75 tons.
In 1985, the Germans began to develop their own version of the reusable system - the project was called “Senger”. In 1995, after the development of the engine, the project was closed, as it would give a benefit of only 10-30% compared with the European launch vehicle "Arian 5".
Aircraft HL-20
"Dream Chaser"
In place of one-off "Soyuz" in Russia since 2000 began to develop a multi-purpose spacecraft "Clipper". The system became an intermediary between the winged shuttles and the ballistic capsule of the Soyuz. In 2005, in order to cooperate with the European Space Agency, a new version was introduced - the winged Clipper.
The device can put 6 people into orbit and up to 700 kilograms of cargo, that is, it exceeds the Soyuz by two parameters. At the moment there is no information that the work of the project continues. Instead, the news write about the new reusable ship - "Federation".
Multi-purpose spacecraft "Clipper"
Manned transport ship "Federation" should replace the manned "Union" and the truck "Progress". His plan to use including for the flight to the moon . The first launch is scheduled for 2019. In autonomous flight, the device should be able to stay up to 40 days, and when docked with the orbital station, it can operate for up to 1 year. At the moment, the development of conceptual and technical projects has been completed, the development of working documentation for the creation of the first-stage ship is underway.
The system consists of two main modules: the return vehicle and the engine compartment. In this paper, they apply ideas that were previously used for the Clipper. The ship will be able to deliver up to 6 people into orbit and up to 4 people to the moon.
The parameters of the apparatus "Federation"
One of the most noticeable in the media at the moment reusable projects are the development of SpaceX - the transport ship Dragon V2 and the carrier rocket Falcon 9.
Falcon 9 is a partially returned unit. The launch vehicle consists of two stages, the first of which has a system for returning and a vertical landing on the landing pad . The last launch was not successful - on September 1, 2016 an accident occurred .
The reusable manned spacecraft Dragon V2 is now being prepared for safety testing for astronauts. In 2017 they plan to conduct an unmanned launch of the device on a Falcon 9 rocket.
Reusable manned ship Dragon V2
In preparation for the flight of the expedition to Mars in the United States developed a reusable spacecraft Orion. Ship assembly completed in 2014 . The first unmanned flight of the device took place on December 5, 2014 and was successful. Now NASA is preparing for further launches, including with the crew.
Aviation, as a rule, implies the multiple use of aircraft. The same property in the future will have to have spacecraft, but for this to be solved a number of problems, including economic. Each launch of a reusable ship should be cheaper than building a one-time. It is necessary to use such materials and technologies that will allow restarting devices after minimal repairs, and ideally without any repairs at all. Probably, the spacecraft in the future will simultaneously possess both the characteristics of a rocket and an aircraft.
In both countries, design and other devices. At the moment, the most notable example of projects of this type is the partially reusable Falcon 9 from SpaceX with a returnable first stage.
Today we will talk about why such projects were developed, how they showed themselves from the point of view of efficiency and what are the prospects for this area of ​​astronautics.
')
The history of space shuttles began in 1967, before the first manned flight under the Apollo program. On October 30, 1968, NASA approached American space companies with a proposal to work out a reusable space system in order to reduce the cost of each launch and for each kilogram of payload put into orbit.
The government was offered several projects, but each of them cost at least five billion US dollars, so Richard Nixon rejected them. NASA's plans were extremely ambitious: the project implied the work of an orbital station, to which, and from which, the shuttles would constantly carry payloads. Shuttles also had to launch and return satellites from orbit, maintain and repair satellites in orbit, and conduct manned missions.
The final requirements for the ship looked like this:
- Cargo compartment 4,5x18,2 meters
- The possibility of horizontal maneuver for 2000 km (maneuver of the aircraft in the horizontal plane)
- Load capacity of 30 tons per low earth orbit, 18 tons per polar orbit
The decision was the creation of the shuttle, the investment in which was to be recouped due to the launch of satellites on a commercial basis. For the success of the project, it was important to minimize the cost of putting each kilogram of cargo into orbit. In 1969, the creator of the project talked about reducing the cost to 40-100 US dollars per kilogram, while for Saturn-V this figure was 2000 dollars.
To launch into space, the shuttles used two solid rocket boosters and three own cruise engines. Solid rocket boosters were separated at an altitude of 45 kilometers, then they landed in the ocean, were repaired and reused. The main engines use liquid hydrogen and oxygen in the outboard fuel tank, which was thrown away at an altitude of 113 kilometers, after which it partially burned in the atmosphere.
The first prototype of the Space Shuttle was the Enterprise, named after the ship from the Star Trek series. The ship was tested for aerodynamics and tested for ability to land when planning. Columbia was the first to go to space on April 12, 1981. In fact, this was also a test launch, although there was a crew of two astronauts aboard: commander John Young and pilot Robert Crippen. Then everything went well. Unfortunately, this particular shuttle crashed in 2003 with seven crew members, on the 28th launch. The same fate was at the "Challenger" - he endured 9 starts, and on the tenth - suffered a crash. 7 crew members died.
Although NASA planned 24 launches each year in 1985, for 30 years of using the shuttle, they took off and returned 135 times. Two of them are unfortunate. Record for the number of starts was the shuttle "Discovery" - he experienced 39 starts. "Atlantis" withstood 33 starts, "Columbia" - 28, "Endeavor" - 25 and "Challenger" - 10.
Challenger, 1983
Shuttle Discovery, Atlantis and Endeavor were used to deliver cargo to the International Space Station and to the Mir station.
The cost of delivering goods to orbit in the case of Space Shuttles was the highest in the entire history of astronautics. Each launch cost from 500 million to 1.3 billion dollars, each kilogram - from 13 to 17 thousand dollars. For comparison, the Soyuz one-time launch vehicle is capable of launching cargo into space at a price ranging from 4,242 to 11,265 dollars per kilogram. The program "Space Shuttle" was planned as self-sustaining, but in the end it became one of the most unprofitable.
Shuttle "Atlantis", ready for the STS-129 expedition to deliver equipment, materials and spare parts to the International Space Station. November 2009
The last flight of the Space Shuttle program took place in 2011. On July 21 of that year, Atlantis returned to Earth. The last landing of "Atlantis" marked the end of an era. Details on what was planned and what happened in the program “Space Shuttle”, read in this article .
In the USSR it was decided that the characteristics of the Space Shuttle allow abducting Soviet satellites or an entire space station from orbit: the shuttle could launch 29.5 tons of cargo into orbit, and lower it to 14.5 tons. Taking into account plans of 60 launches per year, this is 1,770 tons annually, although at that time the United States did not send into space and 150 tons per year. It was supposed to descend 820 tons per year, although usually nothing descended from orbit. The drawings and photos of the shuttle suggested that the American ship could attack the USSR from any point of near-Earth space with the help of nuclear ammunition, being out of line of sight.
To protect against a possible attack at the Salyut and Almaz stations, they installed a modernized 23-mm automatic gun NR-23. And in order to keep up with the American brothers in the military space, the Union began to develop the orbital spacecraft-rocket-plane of the reusable space system Buran .
The development of a reusable space system began in April 1973. The idea itself had many supporters and opponents. The head of the Institute of the Ministry of Defense for military space insured and made two reports at once - in favor of and against the program, and both of these reports were on the table of D. F. Ustinov, Minister of Defense of the USSR. He contacted Valentin Glushko, who was in charge of the program, but he sent his staff member at Energomash, Valeria Burdakov, to meet instead of him. After talking about the military capabilities of the Space Shuttle and the Soviet counterpart, Ustinov prepared a solution according to which the development of a reusable spacecraft received the highest priority. For the creation of the ship began to set up for these purposes NGO "Lightning".
According to the plan of the Ministry of Defense of the USSR, the objectives of Buran were: countering the actions of a potential enemy to expand the use of outer space for military purposes, solving problems in the interests of defense, the national economy and science, conducting military applied research and experiments using weapons on known and new physical principles as well as launching, servicing and returning to earth of space vehicles, astronauts and cargo.
Unlike NASA, which the crew had risked during the first manned flight of the shuttle, the Buran made its first flight automatically using an onboard computer based on the IBM System / 370. The launch took place on November 15, 1988, the Energia launch vehicle launched a spacecraft into Earth orbit from the Baikonur cosmodrome. The ship made two orbits around the Earth and landed at the Yubileiny airfield.
During the landing an incident occurred that showed how clever the automatic system was. At an altitude of 11 kilometers, the ship made a sharp maneuver and described a loop with a turn of 180 degrees — that is, sat down, having entered from the other end of the runway. This decision was made by the automatics after receiving data on the storm wind in order to enter the most favorable trajectory.
Automatic mode was one of the main differences from the shuttle. In addition, the shuttles boarded with the engine off and could not land several times. For the rescue of the crew in the "Buran" provided a catapult for the first two pilots. In fact, the designers from the USSR copied the configuration of the shuttles, which was not denied, but made a number of extremely useful innovations from the point of control of the vehicle and the safety of the crew.
Unfortunately, the first flight of the Buran was the last . In 1990, the work was suspended, and in 1993 - completely closed.
As sometimes happens with the objects of pride of the nation, version 2.01 “Baikal”, which they wanted to send to space, rotted for many years on the quay of the Khimki reservoir.
You could touch the story in 2011. Moreover, then from this story, people could even tear off pieces of plating and heat-protective coating . In that year, the ship was brought from Khimki to Zhukovsky, to be restored and presented at MAKS a couple of years later.
"Buran" from the inside
Delivery of "Buran" from Khimki to Zhukovsky
"Buran" at MAKS, 2011, a month after the start of the restoration
Despite the economic inexpediency, which the Space Shuttle program showed, the United States decided not to abandon reusable spacecraft projects. In 1999, NASA, together with Boeing, began developing the X-37 drone. There are versions according to which the device is intended for running-in of technologies of future space interceptors capable of incapacitating other devices. Experts in the USA are inclined to believe this.
The device made three flights with a maximum duration of 674 days. At the moment he makes the fourth flight, the launch date is May 20, 2015.
The orbital flying laboratory of the Boeing X-37 carries a mass of payload up to 900 kilograms. Compared with the Space Shuttle and the Buran, capable of carrying up to 30 tons during takeoff, the Boeing is a baby. But he has other goals. The start of the mini-shuttles was laid by Austrian physicist Eigen Zenger, when in 1934 he began to develop a long-range missile bomber. The project was closed, recalling it in 1944, by the end of World War II, but it was too late to save Germany from defeat with the help of such a bomber. In October 1957, the Americans continued the idea by launching the X-20 Dyna-Soar program.
The X-20 orbital aircraft was able, after entering the suborbital trajectory, to dive into the atmosphere to an altitude of 40-60 kilometers in order to take a photo or drop a bomb, and then return to space on a lift force from the wings.
The project was closed in 1963 in favor of the Gemini civil program and the military project of the MOL orbital station.
Titan launch vehicles for launching X-20 into orbit
Layout X-20
In the USSR in 1969, they began to build the BOR, an unmanned orbital rocket plane. The first launch was carried out without thermal protection, which is why the device burned down. The second rocket glider crashed due to unopened parachutes after successfully braking on the atmosphere. In the next five launches, only once BOR did not go into orbit. Despite the loss of devices, each new start brought important data for further development. With the help of BOR-4 in the 1980s, they tested heat protection for the future of Buran.
In the framework of the program "Spiral", for which the "BOR" was built, it was supposed to develop a dispersal plane that would rise to a height of 30 kilometers at a speed of up to 6 speeds of sound to bring the orbiter into orbit. This part of the program did not take place. The Defense Ministry demanded an analogue of the American shuttle, so that the forces were thrown on the Buran.
BOR-4
BOR-4
If the Soviet "Buran" was partially copied from the American "Space Shuttle", then in the case of the "Dream Chaser" everything happened exactly the opposite: the abandoned project "BOR", namely the rocket-plane version of "BOR-4", became the basis for creating reusable spacecraft from the company SpaceDev. Rather, the “Space Chaser” is based on the copied HL-20 orbital plane.
Work on Running for a Dream began in 2004, and in 2007, SpaceDev agreed with the United Launch Alliance on using Atlas-5 missiles to launch. The first successful tests in a wind tunnel were held in 2012. The first flight prototype was dropped from a helicopter from a height of 3.8 kilometers on October 26, 2013.
According to the designers' plans, the cargo version of the ship will be able to deliver up to 5.5 tons to the International Space Station, and return up to 1.75 tons.
In 1985, the Germans began to develop their own version of the reusable system - the project was called “Senger”. In 1995, after the development of the engine, the project was closed, as it would give a benefit of only 10-30% compared with the European launch vehicle "Arian 5".
Aircraft HL-20
"Dream Chaser"
In place of one-off "Soyuz" in Russia since 2000 began to develop a multi-purpose spacecraft "Clipper". The system became an intermediary between the winged shuttles and the ballistic capsule of the Soyuz. In 2005, in order to cooperate with the European Space Agency, a new version was introduced - the winged Clipper.
The device can put 6 people into orbit and up to 700 kilograms of cargo, that is, it exceeds the Soyuz by two parameters. At the moment there is no information that the work of the project continues. Instead, the news write about the new reusable ship - "Federation".
Multi-purpose spacecraft "Clipper"
Manned transport ship "Federation" should replace the manned "Union" and the truck "Progress". His plan to use including for the flight to the moon . The first launch is scheduled for 2019. In autonomous flight, the device should be able to stay up to 40 days, and when docked with the orbital station, it can operate for up to 1 year. At the moment, the development of conceptual and technical projects has been completed, the development of working documentation for the creation of the first-stage ship is underway.
The system consists of two main modules: the return vehicle and the engine compartment. In this paper, they apply ideas that were previously used for the Clipper. The ship will be able to deliver up to 6 people into orbit and up to 4 people to the moon.
The parameters of the apparatus "Federation"
One of the most noticeable in the media at the moment reusable projects are the development of SpaceX - the transport ship Dragon V2 and the carrier rocket Falcon 9.
Falcon 9 is a partially returned unit. The launch vehicle consists of two stages, the first of which has a system for returning and a vertical landing on the landing pad . The last launch was not successful - on September 1, 2016 an accident occurred .
The reusable manned spacecraft Dragon V2 is now being prepared for safety testing for astronauts. In 2017 they plan to conduct an unmanned launch of the device on a Falcon 9 rocket.
Reusable manned ship Dragon V2
In preparation for the flight of the expedition to Mars in the United States developed a reusable spacecraft Orion. Ship assembly completed in 2014 . The first unmanned flight of the device took place on December 5, 2014 and was successful. Now NASA is preparing for further launches, including with the crew.
Aviation, as a rule, implies the multiple use of aircraft. The same property in the future will have to have spacecraft, but for this to be solved a number of problems, including economic. Each launch of a reusable ship should be cheaper than building a one-time. It is necessary to use such materials and technologies that will allow restarting devices after minimal repairs, and ideally without any repairs at all. Probably, the spacecraft in the future will simultaneously possess both the characteristics of a rocket and an aircraft.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/369775/
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