LOST... Old concepts to project never going off paper

[Guest]

some things go on to be famous while some things never ever took off the ground...

It has come to my knowledge once I found a lot of old magazines from Air and Space and Science all the way back into the early 90s. Some of the articles where interesting and some where mind blowing. But I knew this had to be shared. So I share my remarks on the website post here...

But there is still a lot of concepts, tests, and projects that where cancelled, failed, or in some cases died in explosions. So that's where I want to start Lost.

Here is how to participate in Lost.

1. Nominate a project that is not well known. Simple as it is, find a project you never knew about and you think others haven't and share it with us.

2. Like other posts to upvote the concept. Easy to do, just like projects you never knew about

3. Discuss and theorize. It's fun to look at old projects and think "what would we be like now with them?" Basically do the same thing here

4. Kerbal it. If you think it would be fun to do, why don't you fly it in Kerbal Space Program?

Nominations.

Most popular of the month:

~None~

Popularity of nominations:

1. Soviet Mars-1987 [1980s] {nominated by @DDE} 3 upvotes

2. Project Adam [1950s concept to fly around same time] {nominated by @kerbiloid} 2 upvotes

3. early shuttle concepts [1960s-1980s] {nominated by @tater} 2 upvotes

4. Sea Dragon [1960s] {nominated by @Dirkidirk} 2 upvotes

 5. HOTOL space shuttle [1970s] {nominated by @Entropian}  1 upvote

6. Magdenburger Startgerät [1930s] {nominated by @Cattette} 1 upvote

7. Orion Pulse Nuclear [1950s concept to fly around '60s or 2000s] {nominated by @magnemoe} 0 upvotes

8. Gemini side projects [generally after Genimi] {nominated by @kerbiloid} 0 upvotes

9. OTRAG [1975] {nominated by @DDE} 0 opvotes

Recent cancelled projects (AKA RIP projects)

September 2020: RIP to OmegA

OmegA, originally started as an Orbital ATK project, then became a Northrop Grumman one, has died. The rocket's main services where going to be for National services, but since it didn't get picked back in August, it has officially died. And that's sad, I have personal connections to that one, one of my friends works in one of the facilities for it, sad that it has officially died.

Edited September 12, 2020 by Guest

[Guest]

no-one... ouch. Well this is worth a mention of some projects.

 

[magnemoe]

Orion pulse nuclear. 

Cool but our end of the cold war was way better  

Edited September 10, 2020 by magnemoe

[kerbiloid]

https://falsesteps.wordpress.com/

***

Also the Martian Excursion Module is not completely lost, as it's modded.

 

[Guest]

cool stuff so far guys!

[Entropian]

What about the original HOTOL space shuttle concept?

[tater]

All the Phil Bono stuff:

NOVA:

https://www.pmview.com/spaceodysseytwo/spacelvs/sld007.htm

 

ROMBUS:

https://www.pmview.com/spaceodysseytwo/spacelvs/sld008.htm

 

PEGASUS (also similar ITHACUS)

https://www.pmview.com/spaceodysseytwo/spacelvs/sld012.htm

 

SASSTO:

https://www.pmview.com/spaceodysseytwo/spacelvs/sld017.htm

 

 

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Entropian said:

What about the original HOTOL space shuttle concept?

This?

1 hour ago, tater said:

All the Phil Bono stuff:

NOVA:

https://www.pmview.com/spaceodysseytwo/spacelvs/sld007.htm

ROMBUS:

https://www.pmview.com/spaceodysseytwo/spacelvs/sld008.htm

PEGASUS (also similar ITHACUS)

https://www.pmview.com/spaceodysseytwo/spacelvs/sld012.htm

SASSTO:

https://www.pmview.com/spaceodysseytwo/spacelvs/sld017.htm

I am assuming you want me to submit this as Phil Bono's projects?

[tater]

33 minutes ago, The Doodling Astronaut said:

This?

Bono was usually VTVL concepts.

Most of the early shuttle designs (click my links above, and page through, they are not all Bono, many are Lockheed, Boeing, etc (Bono was with Douglas).

Like these first pass concepts:

https://www.pmview.com/spaceodysseytwo/spacelvs/sld021.htm

 

[kerbiloid]

Gemini family of projects.

Paragliding Gemini, Big Gemini (paragliding, and in two versions: conical and cylindrical), MOL, MORL, Gemini lunar landers (direct ascent and with lunar module), the spaceplane with Gemini as crew cabin.

[Entropian]

2 hours ago, The Doodling Astronaut said:

This?

More like this.

[DDE]

OTRAG. Who said "moar boosters" is not a viable strategy?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OTRAG

[DDE]

The cunningly named Soviet study "Mars-1987". Crew of four, landing detachment of two, duration of surface stay 7 days... But why have one reactor when you have two!?

Overall layout:

Spoiler

Launch manifest:

Spoiler

One of the two nuclear-electric propulsion modules, with the telescoping tubular radiator collapsed:

Spoiler

The Earth Return Vehicle:

Spoiler

The Mars lander - note the early appearance of a dual thrust axis lander arrangement that would later show up in the Russo-Amerixan LunOx study:

Spoiler

The comparison with split-launch options and a pure chemical design:

Spoiler

Major disadvantage: there is no way to approach that thing without getting hit by the reactors' radiation.

[YNM]

1 hour ago, DDE said:

telescoping tubular radiator

... bbut... why ? XD

 

Cool stuff man. The site (buran.ru) seems cool as well, sadly it's entirely in russian (there's a purported english version but it's entirely different).

[DDE]

2 hours ago, YNM said:

... bbut... why ? XD

Russian nuclear-electric tugs like nifty storage modes:

And they don't exactly belong on this thread yet: https://www.thespacereview.com/article/3809/1

[YNM]

12 minutes ago, DDE said:

Russian nuclear-electric tugs like nifty storage modes

I mean, that image has more fin radiators and stuff now which are normal. But an entirely tubular radiator, seems like not the best in terms of performance, you'd get a lot of heat gradient along the tube and stuff.

[Cattette]

The Magdenburger Startgerät, a pendulum stabilized rocket meant to be the fist manned rocket. 

The project was initiated in 1932 and the first manned flight was supposed to take place in March 1933. The rocket was designed by Rudolf Nebel on commission by the German bussniesman and hollow-earther Franz Mengering. The initial commission was to land a man on the Moon, though this was considered impractical by Nebel.

The project was cancelled by the pedants who outlawed private rocket experiements before a manned launch was performed. 

[Entropian]

On 9/9/2020 at 8:08 PM, The Doodling Astronaut said:

HOTOL British spaceplane [1980s] {nominated by @Entropian}

Hold up, I may have caused confusion.  HOTOL stands for Horizontal Take-Off and Landing, which was a mistake, I meant Max Faget's original Space Shuttle concept.

[Guest]

Ok, looks like I am getting alot of replies, I am going to wait on it and get them updated weekley due to demand

[Dirkidirk]

99% of rocket people already know of this rocket, but still, it is here now.

[derega16]

On 9/10/2020 at 7:50 PM, tater said:

All the Phil Bono stuff:

NOVA:

https://www.pmview.com/spaceodysseytwo/spacelvs/sld007.htm

 

ROMBUS:

https://www.pmview.com/spaceodysseytwo/spacelvs/sld008.htm

 

PEGASUS (also similar ITHACUS)

https://www.pmview.com/spaceodysseytwo/spacelvs/sld012.htm

 

SASSTO:

https://www.pmview.com/spaceodysseytwo/spacelvs/sld017.htm

 

 

When you see plug nozzle, you know it's Bono

[Guest]

8 hours ago, Dirkidirk said:

snip

Hey I love that video (not because I was mentioned in it.) Sea dragon! Yes it was awesome!

nominations updated

 

As well with old concepts. I will be posting recent projects that got cancelled. Here is the latest one:

September 2020: RIP to OmegA

OmegA, originally started as an Orbital ATK project, then became a Northrop Grumman one, has died. The rocket's main services where going to be for National services, but since it didn't get picked back in August, it has officially died. And that's sad, I have personal connections to that one, one of my friends works in one of the facilities for it, sad that it has officially died.

[Guest]

I would like to nominate:

Energia. The future of space we never got...

Energia was a soviet superheavy rocket, and until recently with Falcon Heavy, was the last superheavy rocket. It only launched twice

The first launch, launched the Polyus spacecraft. Which while the Energia was successful, the Polyus failed to reach orbit because it had to turn 180 degrees to point the engine correctly, in which it did, but kept on spinning to the point where it deorbited itself. The next flight of the Energia was the Buran inaugural flight, in which basically it was a soviet version of the space shuttle and was in some cases better...

But the Energia was so much more! It had future missions, more shuttles, and even other rocket designs. But sadly, all of these where shelved with the fall of the soviet union

There where plans for a reusable energia called Energia II!!!

The boosters had folding wings and the main stage looked like and orbiter!

There was also the Energia-M. Which even made it to the prototype stages!

And then there was the BIG BIG rocket called Vulkan!

It's so sad that these cool rocket never made it beyond two launches. Here is a good image of the full family

 

Energia. It still lives on!

Zenit is a family of the Energia rocket technically:

The Energia-II concept is being put into Anagara as a possible reusable booster

And then there is Russia's Yenesi and Don rocket

And then there is Literally remains of the rocket in Baikonour, just rotting, which is unfortunate...

Anyways, that's my deep dive into the Energia Program!

[DDE]

3 hours ago, The Doodling Astronaut said:

Energia. The future of space we never got...

Uhm... Not only is it pretty famous, but

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Launch_System

It lives! /s

3 hours ago, The Doodling Astronaut said:

It had future missions

It didn't. The slavish replication of the key features of the Shuttle meant the Soviet military never bothered with properly defining what they wanted the Buran for. No payload outside the Buran was ever funded. After 1989 the proposals for Energia missions start looking ludicrous and utterly desperate, such as throwing nuclear waste into space or rebuilding the ozone layer with lasers. The same problem faced the SLS until the Gateway and Artemis - it was being built without a mission, and it didn't face a manifold contraction of the national eco... Oh.

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/07/30/us-gdp-q2-2020-first-reading.html

3 hours ago, The Doodling Astronaut said:

Energia. It still lives on!

Zenit is a family of the Energia rocket technically

It's dead, Jim.

3 hours ago, The Doodling Astronaut said:

And then there is Literally remains of the rocket in Baikonour, just rotting

Nah. The Energiya-M seen there is a mere handling mock-up. The actual Energiya was taken out by the same hangar roof collapse as the flown Buran. Both were sold as scrap metal... to China 

[Guest]

I remember reading somewhere that they actually had several partially assembled Energias laying around, 10 or so, at some point, made in anticipation of future Buran launchers. Boosters might have been cannibalized for Zenits in the meantime, but I wonder what happened to the core stages.