How Does This Board Feel About Robert Zubrin?
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By LostCosmonaut
Similar to the aviation subforum, a thread to post documents in. Reply with your own contributions.
Launch Vehicles
Advanced Cryogenic Expendible SSTO
Advanced Rocket Engines
Air Augmented Rocket Propulsion Concepts
Improved Saturn V Variants
History of Soviet Liquid Fueled Engines
Silbervogel
The Space Shuttle as an Element in the National Space Program (published 1970)
Space Shuttle Range Safety Command Destruct System
Why Does the Space Shuttle Have Wings?: A Look at the Social Construction of Technology in Air and Space
Human Rated Delta IV
Ignition! An Informal History of Liquid Rocket Propellants
Soviet Space Program Handbook (1988)
Launch Loop
Atlas V Users Guide
Current Evaluation of Tripropellant Concept
Star Raker
Assessments of Proposed Upgraded (STS, 1999)
Liquid Flyback Booster Configurations
Liquid Flyback Booster Study Assessment
Dual Liquid Flyback Booster for Space Shuttle
Apollo Lunar Module Propulsion Systems Overview
Lifting Manned Hypervelocity Reentry Vehicles
Saturn V Improvement Study
Nuclear Propulsion
Missions to Mars and the Moons of Jupiter and Saturn Utilizing Nuclear Thermal Rockets with Indigenous Propellants
Nuclear Thermal Rockets Using Indigenous Martian Propellants
Nuclear Thermal Rocket/VehicIe Design Options for Future NASA Missions to the Moon and Mars
Nuclear Pulse Propulsion
Solid Core Nuclear Propulsion Concept
Development of Nuclear Rocket Engines in the USSR
NSWR
Space Nuclear Thermal Propulsion Program
Rover Nuclear Engine Program Tests
Design of Antimatter Annihilation Rocket
Antiproton Powered Propulsion with Magnetically Confined Plasma Engines
Nuclear Pulse Space Vehicle Study
SOAR: Space Orbiting Advanced Fusion Power Reactor
Metal DUMBO Rocket Reactor
Fission Fragment Rocket Engine
The Political Feasibility of Nuclear Power in Space
Liquid Annular Reactor System (LARS)
On the Use of a Pulsed Nuclear Thermal Rocket for Interstellar Travel
Fission Fragment Rockets (1988)
Exploration
Lunex
Soviet Manned Lunar Program
Solar Rocket System Concept Analysis
Manned Mars Missions Using Electric Propulsion
Galactic and Solar Cosmic Ray Shielding
Issues in Radiation Protection: Galactic Cosmic Rays
Titan Submersible Proposal
Discovery of 1992 QB1 (first KBO)
Color Diversity Among Centaurs and KBOs
Manned Venus Flyby Proposal (1967)
Manned Eros Flyby (would have used Apollo derivative possibly)
Bussard Ramjet (simple)
Bussard Ramjet (more stuff)
Comparison of Phobos and Deimos as Exploration Targets
Scenarios for the Orbits of 2000 CR105 and 2003 VB12
A couple of spaceflight books
JIMO Materials Challenges
Aerocapture Analysis for a Neptune Mission
Aerogravity Assist at Triton
Neptune Orbiters Using Solar and Radioisotope Electric Propulsion
Magnetic Field of Mercury
Human Exploration of Mercury and Saturn
Project Mercury Report (1959)
Abort Options for Mars Missions
Manned Phobos Mission (Project APEX)
Manned Venus Orbiting Mission
High Altitude Venus Operations Concept
Crewed Mission to Callisto
Titan and Europa Mission Summary
Design of a Common Lunar Lander (1991)
Manned Lunar Habitats
Meteroid/Debris Shielding
Interstellar radio links enhanced by exploiting the Sun as a Gravitational Lens.
Origin and Orbital Distribution of Trans-Neptunian Scattered Disc
X-Ray Fluorescence from Inner Disc in Cygnus X-1
Evidence for a Distant Planet in the Outer Solar System
Evidence for Nemesis (from 1985)
THE USES OF ASTRONOMY AN ORATION
Rapid Mars Transits with Exhaust-Modulated Plasma Propulsion
VASIMIR
Columbia Crew Survival Investigation Report
CO2/Metal Propellants for Mars Sample Return Missions
ISS EVA Radiation Protection Studies
The Mars Project (Von Braun, 1953)
That is not dead which can eternal lie: the aestivation hypothesis for resolving Fermi’s paradox
Nanotechnology and Space System Architecture
Apollo Guidance Computer Code List
Missiles (ICBMs and such, shorter range missiles live in the aviation forum)
Defense Against Ballistic Missiles
ICBM Basing Options
Soviet Theater Nuclear Forces: Implications for NATO Defense (1981)
Seize the High Ground: The Army in Space and Missile Defense
Soviet Concepts of Ballistic Missile Defense
ABM R&D at Bell Labs
Ballistic Missile Defense Report
A4 User Manual (in German)
The SS-8 Controversy
Other
Akin's Laws of Spacecraft Design
A Linear Accelerator in Space
Astronomical Engineering: A Strategy for Modifying Planetary Orbits
Boris Chertok Memoir Link to English Translation
The Problem of Space Travel 1928 by Slovenian Engineer Herman Potočnik
Rockets and People, by Boris Chertok
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By LostCosmonaut
There's a shitload of real estate in the solar system, and we don't know much about most of it. What unmanned probes would you like to see built to learn more about the planets and other objects?
My first choice is an Enceladus orbiter/lander; it's one of the best candidates for extraterrestial life, has confirmed cryovolcanism, and organics have been found near it. Plus, any mission you send there can get some bonus science of Titan and other cool places in the Saturn system.
I also like FOCAL, just for the sheer audacity of it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FOCAL_(spacecraft)
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By Serge
I propose a new topic to regroup information about French AFVs.
Days after days, information is overwhelmed under the inflow of photos about anything and everything.
It can be interesting to try to have dedicated topics to ease the quality of exchanges.
So, if you have already posted interesting photos, documentations and view about French AFVs, you can quote them here.
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By LostCosmonaut
Metal cooled reactors have several advantages over pressurized water reactors. For one, their power density is greater, additionally, the coolant is unpressurized, improving safety.
However, there are some downsides. The Soviets' Project 705 class submarines were powered by liquid metal reactors utilizing a lead-bismuth alloy as coolant. This alloy had a freezing temperature of roughly 400K. As a result, the reactors had to be run constantly, even while the submarines were in port (there were facilities to provide superheated steam to the reactors while the subs were docked, but they broke down and were never repaired). This reduces the lifetime of the reactor. Another coolant choice which has been used operationally is NaK (Sodium-Potassium). This alloy is liquid at room temperature, but reacts violently with water or air. I'm not an expert, but this seems like a bad thing.
It seems to me that if appropriate coolants could be found, it seems that liquid metal fast reactors could see more widespread acceptance. To my untrained eye, gallium looks like a good choice. Its melting point is relatively close to room temperature (~303K), and the boiling point is quite high (over 2600K). Also, gallium is less reactive than sodium or other alkali metals. It appears that there has been some research on this topic: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0149197000000640(unfortunately, the article is behind a paywall), and it looks quite promising.
Anybody have any opinions on this, or suggestions for alternative coolants?
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