Artemis Is Ace I Think, And Ace Counts As Not Straight, And Not Straight = Gay. This Checks Out.

Southern moonscape

1989: ‘Shuttle Evolution “Block II”’

(sorry for low resolution, I cannot find a higher-res version anywhere)

1989: A concept drawing for a never-realised next-generation Space Shuttle, capable of carrying 8 astronauts and possibly over 30 tonnes to low-Earth orbit. The most noteworthy feature is the detachable cockpit with engines which could serve as a launch escape-system or a lifeboat during an incident in-orbit. It was to use its lifting body, wings, and body flap to glide to a runway and presumably land on skids. The escape system would enable a crew's escape at any point during launch or orbital flight.

Comments and observations

The inclusion of this escape-system in the orbiter would necessitate a gap in the heatshield at the nose, one of the hottest parts of the vehicle during re-entry. That's obviously a big problem. Further, a pad-abort would seem to be very impractical. 3 seconds at 8 Gs would only send the capsule about 2 km high, probably not high enough to glide towards the nearest runway, especially with those stubby wings. Perhaps an emergency parachute system and a splashdown of the capsule would have been more sensible?

Other changes to the orbiter seem to be in the interest of improving gliding performance, such as two wing-tip vertical stabilisers instead of one tail-mounted one (to eliminate wing-tip vortices), shrinkage of the orbital manœuvring system pods by relocation of the OMS's propellant-tanks into the wings, and the addition of canards which would probably yield greater pitch-authority during landing.

The system also proposes replacement of the solid rocket boosters with liquid-hydrogen–fuelled boosters. These could provide a greater payload capacity, as well as greater control of thrust during ascent, and the possibility of an emergency engine shutdown, improving the crew's safety. The biggest and most obvious downside would be increased cost. The drawing doesn't specify whether the LFBs are intended to recover themselves by deploying parachutes, but what's certain is that saltwater generally damages delicate chemical rocket engines, so they probably couldn't just plop into the ocean like the real Shuttle's SRBs did.

Space Shuttle Atlantis payload bay backdropped by the ISS, STS129E November 2009. 🌎🚀

For All Mankind (1.03 "Nixon's Women") Sonya Walger as Molly Cobb

I came up for the idea for this one while looking out of my airplane window. In the last two years, I’ve travelled a lot, and I have a love/hate relationship with it. I don’t like the feeling of being away from home, and feeling slightly lost. But I love the feeling of having nothing to do but letting my mind wander, and thinking about places I’ve never been before. This piece is inspired by that mellow feeling ~

Saturn’s moons, Enceladus and Tethys line up almost perfectly for Cassini’s cameras.

Space shuttle concept art from Rockwell International, late 1970s.

The thing about civilization is, it keeps you civil. Get rid of one, you can’t count on the other. THE EXPANSE (2015-2022)