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Defense Intelligence Reference Document Space Access Where We ve Been And Where We Could Go

Defense Intelligence Agency · 56 pages · text from the file's own layer

This Defense Intelligence Reference Document, prepared by the Defense Intelligence Agency and dated 8 March 2010, was produced under the Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications (AAWSA) Program. It gives a historical and technical review of how to reach space and return. It covers hypersonic gliders, air-breathing and rocket propulsion, thermodynamics and materials, and launch options. It argues that reliable, schedulable access to low Earth orbit is mainly a hardware and propulsion problem rather than a technology one.

  • p. 5 …much the issue, as exemplified by the Lockheed A-12/SR-71. When asked about space…
  • p. 12 …the AFFDL at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, the McDonnell Douglas Corporation (MDC), and the Lockheed…
  • p. 20 …This was similar to the Lockheed Star Clipper (see Figure 38). liE!l B:!lll IElill…
  • p. 42 …So both Lockheed Aircraft and McDonnell Douglas proposed a self-sustained operational system using recoverable lateral…
  • p. 51 …and logistics requirements, Lockheed, NAS-9-1422. • Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL), Lockheed, NAS-9-1688. • Manned…
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Appendix D: Landing Ellipses for Hypersonic Gliders
Figure 14 graphically shows the cross (lateral) range and down range for various
hypersonic gliders. The lateral range and down range describe a landing ellipse for a
vehicle entering the glide at 22,400 feet/second as shown in Figure 46. The 0,0 point is
the beginning of the entry or glide trajectory.
,,~
-·s
-"-~
-~
"~
0
0
0
-~
Oil
§
"'-"h
~
-"...l
6
4
---- I
- ,,-::;:;;/ DvmSoar
-
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2
4
- -· ---1---. -./R 11 • 1• ~'gg,;r~ M-2a IS!C ~ ' ',;
,,
-- -
~ ...__ -
----,-..._
6
u 4 6 10 1:::
IAtmosphenc
Entry
Down Range
14
I I
------ Mo<ld l':'D B
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---/-- ~-0 ~;
Liftmg Body
\ \
~
l\1o<le117tiR /
88% Cap~bility
V,__..
---16 18 2U 22 24 '.:.':6 :::'.8
I 000 nautical miles
Figure 46. Landing Ellipses for (from left) Apollo Capsule, NASA Ames M2/F2, USAF X-20 DynaSoar,
FDL Lifting-Body, 88%-Capability MDC Model 176H, and MDC 176H
30
The space shuttle landing ellipse would be inside the DynaSoar (X-20) ellipse, as its
cross range is one missed orbit, or 1,555 nautical miles. The down range would be
approximately 9,800 nautical miles. The ellipse is offset from 0,0 and has an
indentation into some of the landing ellipse. This is an area the glider cannot reach
with the aerodynamic and structural limits. The ballistic example is for the Apollo
capsule, which had an L/D of about 0.5; Gemini and Mercury ellipses would be smaller.
The Model 176B or Model 176H using 88 percent of its glide capability would have a
glide range equal to the Earth's equatorial circumference.
48
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Report, from the dia collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is above. 56 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.