[RSS] Algerian Aerospace Program! -Alternative History May 1967

[MatterBeam]

Welcome to the Algerian AeroSpace Program! This takes place an alternate history, where Algeria actively develops a space program and struggles to maintain it over the years.

---

AASP 1: July 1959

AASP 2: September 1959

AASP 3: May 1960

AASP 4: June-July 1960

AASP 5: December 1960

AASP 6: December 1961

AASP 7: January-March 1962

AASP 8: March-April 1962

AASP 10: January-March 1964

AASP 11: March-May 1964

AASP 12: August 1965

AASP 13: January 1966

AASP 14: February 1966

AASP 15: May-October 1966

AASP 16: October 1966

AASP 17: May 1967

---

The date is July 1959 and DeGaulle has just been elected President. Algeria has been suffering from an independence movement for the past 5 years, and the major cities are rife with terrorist bombings, military crackdowns and shootouts.

I don't have the strongest computer or the highest settings. My screenshots won't be the greatest you've ever seen, but I hope the story and originality of the setting will make up for it.

Far from the chaos, a space center has been erected in the desert. It is very near the Equator, and 120km from the nearest city of Bechar.

A brand new tarmac and the smell of kerosene fills the air. French and Algerian scientists are hammering away in the Spaceplane Hangar.

X-29 Asfour

The launch of this craft is nocturnal for a good reason: temperatures regularly reach 42 degrees Celsius during the day.

The X-29, 29th experimental aircraft of the AASP, tests the CR-2 Ramjets, a recent product of aerospace research. It is dubbed Asfour, or 'bird' in Arabic.

Despite the lowered fuel efficiency, the Ramjets are ignited on the runway. This is to test their performance and behavior over the course of the entire flight.

The main thrust at low altitudes comes from the central low bypass turbofan rated at 75kN.

At 130m/s, the airflow through the CR-2 ramjets is fast enough to allow ignition of the kerosene fuel.

The Mechjeb statistics is erroneous due to the assumption that all engines produce maximal thrust. The actual thrust is handled by the Advanced Jet Engines mod.

The X-29 incorporates the latest in Area Ruling techniques, designed to reduce transonic drag.

It quickly passes the sound barrier at climbs at Mach 1.33

The Engine GUI window gives the Thrust/Drag ratio. For aircraft in level flight, a value above 1 means that they are accelerating.

The optimal flight scenario for the Ramjets is found to be 500-600m/s at 4-8km altitude. The CR-2 engines output up to 63kN each in that state, but are very fuel hungry.

The Scatterer mod in conjunction with the Environmental Visual Enhancement mod produces this beautiful red dusk.

In a shallow dive, our bird reaches Mach 2.3 or 678m/s

Some parts of the craft heat up to a boiling 100 degrees Celcius, but the cabin is well insulated.

You might notice that the thrust/drag ratio is exactly 1.

The ramjets are cut and the turbofan reduced to minimal thrust. As the craft dives and the atmosphere thickens, Asfour quickly falls into a subsonic regime.

Landing lights and the vertical velocity meter guide the landing procedure.

Galina manages to hit the floor at a mere 90m/s. Control is maintained by increasing the deflection of the canards from 20 to 44 degrees maximum.

We see here the gentle braking process.

Algeria has demonstrated that it is capable of designing Mach 2+ aircraft. Although it is not an independent effort, it is a worthy accomplishment.

Sadly, in the global arena that is the Cold War of the 60's, this might be perceived as the first steps towards a supersonic bomber capability. No-one is willing to disprove this supposition for now, least of all the French.

http://imgur.com/gallery/3SFze

I am open to any comments and suggestions!

Edited November 8, 2015 by TruthQuark

[Shania_L]

Nice!

I always like to see RO and upscaled Kerbin report logs, from the sparsity of your space centre can I take it you are doing an RP-01 career game?

Your choice of an alternative launch site as well as a 'planes first' approach gives your report a refreshing change, hope you can keep it up!

[MatterBeam]

Nice!

I always like to see RO and upscaled Kerbin report logs, from the sparsity of your space centre can I take it you are doing an RP-01 career game?

Your choice of an alternative launch site as well as a 'planes first' approach gives your report a refreshing change, hope you can keep it up!

This is indeed an RP-01 game, but I use the Enginner's tech tree.

In this history, the planes are used first, but they will not take up a lot of the mission logs.

I also have RemoteTech, and will be playing around with that soon.

[MatterBeam]

September 1959.

DeGaulle proposes a solution to the Algerian independence movement by the absorption of the colony into the mainland.

Elsewhere, the american X-15 rocket plane makes its first flight and the soviet Lunik 2 lands on the Moon.

The scientists at Hammaguir work harder to catch up with the rest of the world. Their solution to flying higher and faster is to remove the middle man: unmanned craft allow for mass savings on cockpit weight and the ability to work around the requirement of a human pilot.

To this end, they need to ensure a stable connection with any drone craft well beyond the horizon.

The craft designed to ensure this connection is the Fn-2 Haamil, or Functional Aircraft, design 2, designation Haamil or 'Carrier'.

Attached between the two jet engine booms is a communications tower with antennae and solar panels.

The high visibility cockpit eases the pilot's ability to find a good spot to place the communications tower. The increased crew capacity alse allows experienced pilot Galina to bring along Bonnie for training purposes. This is the view they have.

It may or may not have been re-purposed from a bomber cockpit.

The Haamil quickly rises to its cruising altitude due to the high Thrust-to-weight ratio provided by the twin turbofans.

Without the sophisticated area ruling and the streamlined designs of the X-plane program, the Haamil struggled to cross the sound barrier.

The spot is selected. It is on a plateau behind a ridge that obscures the space center and might cause a disconnected at a critical moment. Altitude and speed are lowered to protect the parachute from experiencing anything but a perfect opening.

The payload is decoupled and the parachute opened simultaneously.

Circling around, the Haamil confirms that the communications tower has landed intact.

Named after a small desert bird, the Communication Station 1 stands upright in the desert.

It's height allows the signals to clear any minor obstacles and elevations on the floor. It has two antennae that work in tandem to provide a powerful relay for both drone aircraft and rockets launched eastwards.

Four solar panels maintain a power supply. A lead-filled pedestal keeps it upright.

All of the above is for this: The ultimate in contemporary supersonic design. Lightweight, stable and equipped with a powerful 75kN turbofan, it is expected to beat speed records by a wide margin.

The area ruling is an astounding 0.44m2, allowing it to slice through the sound barrier with ease. For this to be achieved, the body is studded with aerodynamic inserts.

For efficiency purposes, the climb is accomplished without an afterburner.

You might notice the grey boom jutting out of the rear. This smooths the transition from fuselage to nozzle with regards to area ruling.

The afterburner is lit and the Sareeh quickly surpasses the speed record set by it's predecessor, the X-29. It follows a ballistic trajectory into the stratosphere then enters into a shallow dive.

'Sareeh' means 'fast', and the X-30 lives up to its name. The maximal airspeed is mach 2.75, reached shortly before the thicker atmosphere at 8km altitude creates enough drag to overcome both the engine thrust and gravity.

The ballistic trajectory can be witnessed as a angle of attack of only 0.29 and under half a G experienced.

The Sareeh is so stable that no SAS is required.

Due to it's streamlining and lack of airbrakes, the X-30 takes a very long time to reach a acceptable landing speed. For increased control at lower airspeeds, the angle of the rear control surfaces has been increased from 6 to 25 degrees.

Still hot from the supersonic flight, the X-30 Sareeh poses on the desert floor, awaiting a recovery team.

Despite the refinements in the Saheer's design, it is unlikely that greater speeds will be achieved. The current jet engine lineup is already very near the thermal limits.

The AASP will soon enter a phase of intense research, using the information gained from these experimental aircraft to design even faster aircraft, and who knows, even join the superpower's race to the stars?

[Cydonian Monk]

Very interesting concept and a nice looking jet. I've occasionally wondered if France would've established a launch center down in Southern or Southwestern Algeria had they not gone through the independence movement (somewhere beyond the Atlas Mountains). Still wouldn't have been a replacement for French Guiana in terms of equatorial launch capabilities, but it would've given them a nice stretch of empty wasteland to drop rocket stages onto.

[MatterBeam]

Very interesting concept and a nice looking jet. I've occasionally wondered if France would've established a launch center down in Southern or Southwestern Algeria had they not gone through the independence movement (somewhere beyond the Atlas Mountains). Still wouldn't have been a replacement for French Guiana in terms of equatorial launch capabilities, but it would've given them a nice stretch of empty wasteland to drop rocket stages onto.

The major advantage of an Algerian launch site, with regards to France, would have been the short distance rockets would have to cross from the french construction centers to the launch site. The Kourou launch site requires a several week trip over open sea, while Hammaguir requires a short trip over the Mididterranean and an overland trip that would eliminate most of the corrosion and accident risks of a long sea trip.

You will see in my mission reports why this is called an alternate history though, and there's a story to tell, beyond the rockets and planes

[Mister Dilsby]

You will see in my mission reports why this is called an alternate history though, and there's a story to tell, beyond the rockets and planes

I'm liking this a lot--not just the space program, but a bit of alt history I never considered. If keeping Algeria a part of France under DeGaulle, you could have gone even farther back--to 1940, and had the French government continue to fight the war from a capital in Africa as DeGaulle wanted! But then the Allies might have won before Von Braun had time to develop the V2, and where would your space program be then?

It does make you think; "geography is history", and our history has certainly favored the people living in certain geographies as opposed to others. But if it were all about going to space, anyone living on the equator would have a HUGE advantage! Those poor penguins, no wonder they've never even gotten to the stone age...

[MatterBeam]

Several months have past since Hammaguir's space center's last endeavor. It is May 1960, and tensions between world superpowers are high.

A U2 plane has been shot down over Cuba. DeGaulle quelled the independence movement with talks of national self-determination back in January, but things don't look so sure now. French colonists, called 'pieds noirs', and Algerian revolutionaries, grouped under the FLN, shoot each other in the streets.

Far above the turmoil, there are now both American and Soviet satellites.

The scientists decide now is the time to unveil their plan to catch up with the world powers. Spurred on by French financing, driven by Cold War fears, Hammaguir builds and launches the Massad.

The Satellite Launcher 4 version D, named Massad or 'Lifter', is a relatively lightweight fully liquid-fueled launcher designed using both US and homebrew technology.

It will put the LOCS-4 Noor, Low Orbit Communications Satellite 'Light', in a circular 500x500km orbit.

This launch will serve both as a technology demonstrator for the new Kerosene-Liquid Oxygen rockets developed by the French and Algerian scientists, and as a test bed for future launch vehicles lifting payloads in the 100-500kg range.

The flight profile is aims for full horizontal acceleration by 100km altitude. We see here separation of the second stage and detachment of the aerodynamic fairings.

The 250kN rated engine is used in a cluster of 5 for the first stage, and only one for the second stage. Previous iterations (SL-4A to C) failed to achieve orbit due to the use of outdated Ethanol-LOxygen boosters in the first stage.

Shortly after SECO, or Second Engine Cut Off, the final stage ignites four 10kN vacuum engines running on Kerosene and Liquid Oxygen.

On this screen, we see the Stage Recovery alert informing us that the first stage, with its 6 parachutes was safely recovered and is able to be refurbished for only 0.4% of its value. This is due to a combination of factors, including the difficulty of recovering it far away from the Space Center, and the relatively high speed at which it impacted the ground, rendering many parts unusable except as experimental data.

The final stage has left the atmosphere. The small communications satellite is equipped with 6 STS-2 solar panels and a pair of Communtron-16 antennae. It weighs only 125 kilograms but hold enough electric charge to remain powered up while passing through Earth's shadow.

The Massad's final stage extinguishes 2 of it's four engines and reduces thrust to a minimum. Without a reaction control system, it has to use thrust vectoring from its engines to align itself with the circularizing maneuver node.

A final orbit of 544x539km is acheived. More was possible, but a short orbital period of 1h15 was desirable for a first attempt.

All engines lit, the final stage reduces orbital velocity by over 1000m/s

The final stage succumbs to Mach 20 aerodynamic heating at an altitude of 62km, over the Atlantic after passing over Mexico.

More communications satellites will surely come, as the Hammaguir Space Center intends to follow in the footsteps of the US and USSR space programs. Surely, it would show the world that French-Algerian cooperation is still possible and might even appease warmongering parties on both sides.

---

The news on the U2 being shot down despite its extremely high-altitude flight profile has instilled fear into all developers of aircraft capable of escaping the Soviet 'telephone pole' anti-aircraft missiles.

Another approach is being investigated, that of speed. While an aircraft will never be able to outpace a guided missile, the combination of supersonic speed and high altitude might be able to extend the engagement time to a point where the majority of missiles run out of fuel.

The American XF-108 program, a planned Mach 3 bomber has recently been cancelled, but the scientists as Hammaguir are being told that Lockheed has continued development along those lines.

Unlike the great superpowers, the Algerian AeroSpace program is confident in the reliability of drone aircraft as test beds for innovative aerial technology.

Based on the X-33, the X-34 extends the concept of rocket-boosted aircraft. The main intention is to verify the durability of thin-winged aircraft (8-4cm thickness) against near-hypersonic heating, as well as air-breathing performance at extreme altitudes.

The 34th experimental aircraft, dubbed 'Pioneer', is the third iteration of the design. It mounts a 79kN turbojet rated for speeds of up to Mach 2.8, but is used mostly to drive the subsonic ascent up to an altitude of 12km

Unlike previous X-craft from Hammaguir, the area ruling struggles to go lower than 0.72m2 due to the size of the liquid rocket boosters.

After having reached the stratosphere, the Pioneer or Ra-id is alowed to accelerate to Mach 1.5 to improve the pitch authority of the control surfaces.

At that point, the 1957 X-405 engines, generating up to 133kN of thrust, ignite and the craft enters a 7G ascent.

Pushing past its thermal limit, the turbojet is very near the point of an explosive meltdown. It is shutdown as the X-34's thrust-to-weight ratio ticks past 5.

The craft achieves Mach 3.63 on ascent. The apoapsis reaches a surprising 70km.

Surprisingly, the thin wings do not overheat and maintain their integrity.

The X-34C follows a ballistic curve to the thinnest parts of the atmosphere.

The turbojet is fired with full afterburner. The lack of airflow produces nearly no thrust, and the engine heats up quickly without proper ventilation.

A testament to the careful design of the Space center scientists, the craft manages to dive through speeds even faster than those achieved on ascent without the need for SAS.

It doesn't do so much as a wobble.

Landing was difficult due to the streamlining of the craft. Despite its very low landing weight of 6.7 tons, it sped over several kilometers at over 150m/s before falling under a sustainable lift/drag ratio.

More will follow on the AASP, but trouble is brewing in the desert, and the scientists might not be shielded from the rest of the world for long....

Edited September 24, 2015 by TruthQuark

[kikill]

Nice story and slick designs !

ce programme est vraiment passionnant

[MatterBeam]

Nice story and slick designs !

ce programme est vraiment passionnant

Merci beaucoup, c'est encourageant d'entendre ça.

[MatterBeam]

It's late, I'm tired, here's the album with descriptions for now.

AASP 4

[MatterBeam]

Things are looking up for the scientists at Hammaguir. The FLN leaders have sat down for peace talks with the French government, and a bloodless resolution to the conflicts seems near.

Meanwhile, the Americans have started their Saturn program, while the Vostok launchers ready their first Soviet manned mission into Space.

Embarrassed by how its domestic problems are overshadowing its technical accomplishments, the French government approves of the SFL-1E Raqis lil-Qamar.

A 300 ton rocket, larger than any launched from Hammaguir before, is the rest of an unprecedented budgetary decision to place the France back in the Space Race.

The Scientific Lunar Flyby vehicle, version 1, fifth iteration, also known as 'Dancer for the Moon', is designed to put a 1-ton probe on a Lunar intercept trajectory and take advantage of the June 1960 Earth-Moon transfer window.

The launch misses the optimal window by barely 2 hours, despite its rapid 23 day transport and assembly time.

The initial kick is provided by four solid rocket boosters. Without radial decouplers, they have to be dropped vertically. Parachute recovery allows reusability of certain components.

Based on a Russian design, the Ethanol-Oxygen rockets that power the SLF-1E during ascent are less efficient than contemporary Kerosene-Oxygen rockets, but they make up for it with high thrust and availability on a short notice.

Due to the lack of radial decouplers, the first stage had to be designed as a single, aerodynamic block. It will be recovered by parachute once it returns to subsonic speeds.

The second stage is powered by a smaller, lighter and more technologically advanced version of the First stage main engines. Burning Kerosene and Liquid Oxygen, it improves its efficiency at the cost of raw thrust.

The ascent profile is chosen in a way that over half the acceleration is accomplished at the very low drag zone above 80km, and continues horizontally once out of the atmosphere.

Also known as the circularization stage,this stage is powered by a vacuum-rated LV-45 engine. While dated compared to the most modern upper stage designs, it features impressive thrust vectoring capability, a necessity for a probe lacking in SAS or RCS.

The final stage weighs just under 5 tons after correcting the orbit to a 156x144km altitude.

A 3.1km/s burn is calculated and plotted. Had this been done outside of the optimal transfer window, most of that dV would have been used up trying to accomplish a plane change.

Without SAS or a reaction control system, the probe still manages to intercept the Moon at a 17000km altitude.

While leaving earth at a blistering 10km/s velocity, the SFL-1E probe calculates a 482m/s burn that will bring it back into the Earth's atmosphere.

The error margin is a measly 213m/s, or less than 7 seconds of burn.

As well as various instruments, Raqis lil-Qamar carries a bulky film camera. It managed to take high quality photographs on solid film, a technique which necessitates physical recovery of the experimental equipment.

This will be extremely valuable to French scientists back home.

With extreme care and thrust control, the periapis is lowered enough for a shallow re-entry.

A vivid screen capture of the view on the way back home. The solar panels remain insufficient to power the probe core, and Raqis lil-Qamar's electrical reserves gradually diminish.

Decoupling from an altitude of 398km, where even 0.1m/s changes of velocity can mean the difference between burning up or never touching the atmosphere, is unwise.

The decoupling of the probe from the flyby stage has to be done much closer to Earth. Simulating a loss of communications, the flight computer is programmed to stage 2 hours away from re-entry. The probe core accomplishes this task autonomously, a small by significant feat.

The parachutes are calibrated and armed while in space.

Coming in at nearly 11km/s, the probe would surely have burned up in seconds with any steeper re-entry. Scientists at Hammaguir opt instead for multiple shallow re-entries that gradually bleed off speed.

The probe loses power after the first pass, but the heatshield and the aerodynamic fins align it with the direction of travel without any active control.

The orbit becomes more and more polar with each pass.

The apoapsis is reduced to a mere 16475km.

The heatshield has been depleted by 30% by now. The solar panels prove completely inadequate as a power source.

The apoapsis dips under the atmosphere after 13 days in space.

The probe reaches a G-load of 8.2 when it reaches the top of the stratosphere, over the Indian Ocean. The parachutes are brought to their extreme thermal limits for a few seconds' time.

Worryingly, this is considered to be the upper limit for human survivability.

Despite multiple heating and cooling passes, the parachutes manage to remain intact and slow down the probe from a terminal velocity of over 300km/h to a much softer 15km/h

The probe is mostly submerged upon touchdown. Parts of it sizzle and boil at 450K (180 degrees C) The salty seawater renders most of it unrecoverable, but the film data and flight recorder and well-protected.

The probe is picked up by french Submarine.

With this headline-worthy accomplishment in the bag, the French government returns to tending domestic affairs.

[MatterBeam]

AASP5 on KSP forums coming soon.

Poll up sooner.

[Dman979]

I am liking this! keep it up!

[MatterBeam]

I am liking this! keep it up!

Thank you.

[MatterBeam]

Algerian Aerospace program 6:

Javascript is disabled. View full album

A bit heavier in history, but worth the read, at least for the cute RemoteTech satellite.

Edited October 2, 2015 by TruthQuark

[MatterBeam]

Algerian Aerospace Program 7:

Javascript is disabled. View full album

Edited October 1, 2015 by TruthQuark

[MatterBeam]

Algerian Aerospace Program 8:

Javascript is disabled. View full album

Algerians around the moon!

Edited October 1, 2015 by TruthQuark

[MatterBeam]

I must warn you, my readers far and few, that part 9 will be delayed by the fact that science nodes on the RP-0 trees are a Clusterf*ck of RSS proportions.

[Ravenchant]

I admit I have mostly been skimming through the pictures up until now, but I just read the part 8 and it's really well though out and interesting. Kudos! Are there going to be political troubles throughout the series or is it more of a world-building thing?

[MatterBeam]

I admit I have mostly been skimming through the pictures up until now, but I just read the part 8 and it's really well though out and interesting. Kudos! Are there going to be political troubles throughout the series or is it more of a world-building thing?

I try to keep it as historical as possible, unless it involves Hammaguir in some war or another.

AASP 9: Destination Unknown November 1963

[Bev7787]

Oh my god... It's back

[MatterBeam]

Oh my god... It's back

That's a... good... thing, hopefully?

[Bev7787]

Yep :-). Cause I like RO mission reports.

[astrokerb]

I like this. Keep it up!