Question Interplanetary Spacecraft Concepts

[eveningsky339]

I've been playing around quite a bit with the Deepstar lately, and I've noticed that there are very few "realistic" interplanetary spacecraft available on orbithanger. I would like to start putting together a new spacecraft, however, Almighty Google has yielded sparse results in terms of concepts.

Does anyone have any resources from which I can draw ideas? Whether conventional chemical rockets or exotic propulsion systems, I'm interested.

 

[Artlav]

Will interstellar concept do?
http://orbides.1gb.ru/concepts.php?lng=&mode=rhego
Not quite add-on doable, unfortunately.

 

[T.Neo]

That interstellar concept is a rather cool one, although I think it would be a tad overkill for mere interplanetary use.

Why wouldn't it be doable as an addon?

 

[eveningsky339]

Will interstellar concept do?
http://orbides.1gb.ru/concepts.php?lng=&mode=rhego
Not quite add-on doable, unfortunately.

Very interesting, though modeling a laser from Rhea would be a doozy... not to mention defining thrusters and achieving light speed.

I suppose I could use the solar sail concept and have lasers fire into the sail from the ship, but that strikes me as redundant and inefficient. The sun would also probably get in the way.

 

[T.Neo]

Or just model the thrust of the sail as an engine in Orbiter?

 

[Hielor]

I suppose I could use the solar sail concept and have lasers fire into the sail from the ship, but that strikes me as redundant and inefficient.

Not only "redundant and inefficient" but "utterly ineffective". It would be like putting a fan on the back of a sailboat to blow air into the sails--the thrust that the fan itself would give you (in the wrong direction!) will be at least as much as (probably more in a non-perfect situation) the thrust you get from the sail...

 

[eveningsky339]

Well, setting aside the spacecraft for now, I'm wondering what to do with the landers. I would like to have at least two with the capability to land on celestial bodies with and without atmospheres. I could either create the landers with an aeroshell which can be left behind for airless excursions and included for atmospheric landing, or I could create the landers themselves to be inherently designed for atmospheric flight.

 

[Marty]

the series Defying Gravity (venus, mercury, mars, jupiter, saturn & pluto in 6 years *g*) has a interesting concept, i like especially the engines

 

[jedidia]

Well, there's allways the atomic rockets page...

http://www.projectrho.com/rocket/rocket3ap.html

 

[eveningsky339]

Well, there's allways the atomic rockets page...

http://www.projectrho.com/rocket/rocket3ap.html

Ooo, thanks for this.

 

[eveningsky339]

Started work on an aeronautic lander today.

I used the size specifications of NASA's LSAM lander, but find myself surprised at how large it is... Perhaps the aeroshell adds to the illusion of size?

The main engines will actually be in the rear of the lander. Those thruster-looking thingies on the port and starboard sides are solid rocket motors designed to loft the lander and save delta-v on atmospheric environments such as Mars and Titan. ...Actually, mostly Titan. I've yet to find a lander that is capable of returning to the mothership after landing on that Moon and I hope the SRMs will do the trick.

As for the interplanetary vessel, I will probably go with the "real 'Discovery'" design...

 

[Mister Kite]

As for the interplanetary vessel, I will probably go with the "real 'Discovery'" design...

You are aware of the fact that it has a constant, but very low thrust? (Which makes it very difficult, if not impossible to navigate that craft in orbiter.)

 

[eveningsky339]

You are aware of the fact that it has a constant, but very low thrust? (Which makes it very difficult, if not impossible to navigate that craft in orbiter.)

Oh... no I was not. I could use some artistic license and rework the propulsion so that it works in a more "conventional manner", though. Should this become the case I will probably work with a thermo-nuclear rocket.

 

[Greenray]

Oh... no I was not. I could use some artistic license and rework the propulsion so that it works in a more "conventional manner", though. Should this become the case I will probably work with a thermo-nuclear rocket.

.HYPOTHESIS ABOUT STRUCTURE OF ELECTROFIELD ENGINES ON PULSE FIELDS (EDIP) THE PROJECT THE POSTMAN. INITIAL LEVEL. NEW CONCEPT SPACESHIP «SOLAR BIRD»

The author: Nikitin Sergey Alekseevich
The Russian Federation, Republic Chuvashiya, Cheboksary
Chuvashiya State University

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/37628841/Postmanproject2011engv0.67.pdf

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/37628841/PostmanProjecRUSV1.07.pdf