VTVL
Vertical takeoff, vertical landing (VTVL) is a form of takeoff and landing using rockets (as opposed to vertical takeoff using the air which is known as VTOL). Multiple VTVL craft have flown. As of 2011[update], at least five VTVL rocket vehicles are currently under development at four different aerospace companies. VTVL is often proposed for reusable rockets.
History
- VTVL rocket concepts were studied by Philip Bono of Douglas Aircraft Co. in the 1960s.[1]
- Apollo Lunar Module was a two-stage VTVL vehicle for landing and taking off from the moon.
- The Soviet Union did some development work on, but never flew, a manned capsule called Zarya in the late 1980s.[2]
- The McDonnell Douglas DC-X was an unmanned prototype launch VTVL vehicle that flew several test flights in the 1990s.[3]
- Rotary Rocket successfully tested a vertical landing system for their Roton design, based around a rocket tipped helicopter system in 1999, but were unable to raise funds to build a full vehicle.
- Recently, Armadillo Aerospace's Scorpius / Super Mod, Masten Space Systems' Xombie and Unreasonable Rocket's Blue Ball flying VTVL rockets competed[when?] in the Northrop Grumman / NASA Lunar Lander Challenge.[citation needed] Follow-on VTVL designs including Masten's Xaero and Armadillo's Stig are aimed at higher-speed flight to higher suborbital altitudes.
- SpaceX plans to eventually install deployable landing gear on the Dragon spacecraft and use the vehicle's thrusters to perform a land-based landing.[4]
- Three VTVL craft have been proffered to NASA in response to NASA's suborbital reusable launch vehicle (sRLV) solicitation under NASA's Flight Operations Program: the Blue Origin New Shepard, the Masten Xaero, and the Armadillo Super Mod.[5]
- SpaceX announced in September 2011 that they would attempt to develop powered descent and recovery of both Falcon 9 stages, with a VTVL Dragon capsule as well.[6][7]
See also
References
- ^ Wade, Mark. "OOST". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Retrieved 2011-10-04.
- ^
Zak, Anatoly (2009-04-29). "Russia mulls rocket power 'first'". BBC News. Retrieved 2011-10-11.
RKK Energia, ... in the 1980s ... worked on a highly classified project to develop a large manned capsule, called Zarya ("Dawn"), for a wide range of civilian and military missions.
- ^ Klerkx, Greg: Lost in Space: The Fall of NASA and the Dream of a New Space Age, page 104. Secker & Warburg, 2004
- ^ "Dragon Drop Test – August 20, 2010". Spacex.com. 2010-08-20. Retrieved 2010-12-14.
- ^
"sRLV platforms compared". NASA. 2011-03-07. Retrieved 2011-03-10.
New Shepard: Type: VTVL/Unpiloted ... Super Mod: Type: VTVL/Unpiloted ... Xaero: Type: VTVL/Unpiloted
- ^
"Elon Musk says SpaceX will attempt to develop fully reusable space launch vehicle". Washington Post. 2011-09-29. Retrieved 2011-10-11.
Both of the rocket's stages would return to the launch site and touch down vertically, under rocket power, on landing gear after delivering a spacecraft to orbit.
- ^ Wall, Mike (2011-09-30). "SpaceX Unveils Plan for World's First Fully Reusable Rocket". SPACE.com. Retrieved 2011-10-11.
External links
Look up vtvl in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
- Astronautix.com list of VTVL rocket concepts from the past
- Hobbyspace.com development of VTVL rockets around the world