Michael M. Butler wrote:
> >... To get into orbit cheaply, you need to build your rockets Big and Dumb...
yup. looks like there are three showstoppers for well funded amateur groups.1. regardless of how big and how dumb a liquid rocket is, one still mustpump a high volume of cryogenic liquids to combustion chamber pressure .
2. generally rockets have a high l/d problem: they are tall and skinny, in order
to
3. guidance and control: this is a very complicated problem generally, requires
a sophisticated feedback mechanism with thrust vector control by means of a
steerable nozzle for instance.
there are a lot of different concepts all going under the name roton, some
workable,
reduce atmospheric drag. so, there is a great deal of science in the structural
dynamics of the system. this was a major problem in the early days of
rocketry.
others not. i have only recently come to appreciate this. the beauty of the
simplest
roton system is that it solves all three of the above, sort of. centrifugal force
the cryogens. you need not have high l/d, since you can give away some
performance.
the inherent stability spinning about an axis with high moment of inertia obviates
a flight computer. there are still some difficult problems, such as how to turn
the
like apple computer, the roton concept is not really being sold right, in my
opinion.
vehicle, but i have some ideas. a roton could be conceive which has very few
moving parts.
when the rotoners say that it might raise payload at 1/5 the cost of conventional
is within the reach of sophisticated amateurs and underfunded entrepreneurs. spike