Masthead
April 2003

Not an auspicious start to the year for spaceflight, was it? Welcome back from the extended break. Such a huge amount has happened that I've tried to cover the ground in an opinion piece. To be honest, I prefer them to the newsy stuff, and there are not so many awkward-to-print photos involved for The Whites to print in The Roundabout.



STS-107 crew. Front from left: Rick Husband William McCool. Standing from left: David Brown, Laurel Clark, Kalpana Chawla and Michael Anderson and Ilan Ramon.

The big news, of course was the demise of America's space shuttle Columbia - a terrible tragedy whatever the cause. We're fairly sure that heat got into the wing via something called a 'T-Seal' and blasted through the landing gear hatch - splashes of molten aluminium on the wreckage of the wheels gave the game away. After that it was just a matter of time before the random blowtorch cut through something critical. A bit of something that was probably the T-Seal was seen floating away from the shuttle on Radar. It is likely to have been knocked loose by the impact of some outside duel tank insulation that was seen to fall during launch. In theory it shouldn't happen. But some thoughtful souls query the difference between the real world and theory, particularly as some engineers seem to have raised concerns before the fateful re-entry. Someone even asked US Spy Central if their satellites could take a photo, but the request was not followed up. No-one may ever know, or be told, what went on for real.


The other big news was that TransOrbital actually launched something! Far more cheerful, that. Yes, a test article was sent aloft, and everything looked good. It'll stay up there for 20 years or so, unless someone fetches it or bangs into it. There is no transmitter aboard, but tests on vibrations and telemetry for the launch of the payload up until separation were analysed. Being one of those partly responsible for the exercise, I have to produce some updated graphics for our pre-launch videos. I'll be sure to get some images out in early May for the fans.


The International Space Station is in a bit of a pickle too. Seeing as the Americans are now unable to uphold their commitment to the station (preferring instead to blow US$70 billion on an illegal war) the future of the three astronauts currently up there is going to be different than for the scenario they had planned for. They may have to start shutting down bits of the station to allow the crew to be reduced to two, who would come up on a Soyuz rocket.


With the breakdown of law and order not only in Iraq, but on an international scale, the Russians have become more assertive over responsibility for the International Space Station. For once, this support actually looks like turning into Roubles as the Russians seem to vent their spleen by showing up America while the latter is without any manned space program. Shuttle program manager Ron Dittemore, who was promoted to the post in 1999, is to leave his job.


Depending how many more international treaties America pulls out of, there may be an interesting new space race in the making. You see, all major powers now know how to make nuclear-powered spacecraft; a process not significantly more complex than making a conventional power station. Using one within the atmosphere would allow the development of a single-stage-to-orbit spacecraft on a relative shoe-string budget.


By using far heavier and rugged superstructure, maintenance on these vessels would be minimal and the radioactivity released trivial in modern designs. Essentially, a nuclear rocket is a gas-cooled reactor with a small turbine and an awfully big gas leak. They could even be used as power sources in orbit to turn interplanetary cargoes into fuel, minimising the impact of a spacefareing civilisation on the Earth's resources while giving a welcome boost to space colonisation.


On the ground, these vessels might be a resource, rather than purely a maintenance burden. Producing their own fuel by electrolysis of seawater, and possibly even additional power for local infrastructure - particularly off-Earth. Their radioactive cores providing power and a way of keeping their long-term burden safely out of reach of the Earth's environment. Simply give old vessels a Viking funeral in the Sun where their radioactive cargo is insignificant.


Both Russia and America have tried these systems in the past, but they were not safe enough for atmospheric operation and leaked radioactivity badly. Now, they could be practical for the West and China has probably acquired the capability to build one fairly recently. It is, after all, a bloody good excuse to develop "peaceful" nuclear power systems for any nation that might feel the need to legitamise their research. The nation to get going first will not need nuclear weapons for world domination. They will own a very lucrative market, exploiting resources unavailable to anyone else: access to virtually unlimited solar and nuclear power, cheap travel to any point between here and the moon, and an express delivery service that'll blow the socks off any current courier!


By now you've probably spotted the flaw in this little plan. Yes, it does kinda involve large nuclear things whizzing over our heads, and we're also familiar with what a 737 full of ordinary fuel does too. Not a pretty concept, and I don't really like the idea much myself. But I'm older and wiser than last year. Last year I used to think that if everyone raised their voices in opposition to an American idea, then the Americans would sit back and reconsider their actions. Now I know this not to be the case.


To add another dimension to the race, Scaled Composites have been quietly producing their own spacecraft. So too have Armadillo Aerospace, and Blue Origin. All are producing independent craft of differing designs. Full story for those on the web is at http://www.msnbc.com/news/904842.asp?0cv=KA01


We covered Scaled Composite's "EZ Rocket" in July 2001 and this has progressed to a two-part system: White Knight, bearing a striking similarity to an EZ Rocket on steroids, flies high aloft, bearing SpaceShipOne underneath. At the top, White Knight drops the smaller craft and returns to Earth. SpaceShipOne ignites its own rocket engine (powered by laughing gas) and flies in a short hop over 100km high before landing for re-use. Although this system can't orbit people, with the aid of a small, expendable booster instead of SpaceShipOne it can orbit some smaller payloads. Owner Burt Rutan says he's not out to get the $10 million X-Prize for manned spaceflight, but to see if man can get into space without government assistance.


Blue Origin is backed by America's 100th richest man, Jeff Bezos. He wants to go into space and has a billion dollars to do it with. He hires visionaries with similar dreams, like science fiction's Neal Stephenson. They hope to be able to launch up to seven sightseers on one launch. Armadillo Aerospace is owned by John Carmack, the person who was behind the hit "Doom" and "Quake" computer games. He's been building hydrogen peroxide-powered rockets, and he is definitely after the X-Prize. We'll see if anyone can beat the Space Shuttle to the International Space Station!

This edition is also on the web, just point your web browser to http://olliver.family.gen.nz.   vik@olliver.family.gen.nz
"Failure is not an option - it comes bundled with the software" - anon.

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