Page Content (OCR)
RTTOCV Two-stage re-usable launch vehicle developed for the NASA sled- launched spaceplane project. This system is thought to be identical to that proposed for the USAF’s LRV. Bill Rose heed envisaged a 100-passenger-carrying version of the system being possible by the 1980s, using more advanced engines. NASA’s RTTOCV programme never progressed beyond a concept, but some aspects are thought to have reappeared during 1982 when Boeing undertook a classified USAF sponsored study called Science Dawn. This project attempted to establish if it was possi- an earlier project, which was conducted for carried into orbit by LHg rocket propulsion the USAF in association with Hughes. Their and it would make an unpowered return to final design took the form of a two-vehicle _ base. Gross weight for the complete system spaceplane system. The manned (or was estimated at 453 tons (460,248kg) and unmanned) booster was a winged canard _ the spacecraft would be capable of lifting a powered by a liquid fuel rocket engine and payload of ten astronauts and 3.3 tons supplemented by turbojets to facilitate the (3,353kg) of cargo into orbit. return to base and a controlled runway land- At 1964 rates the estimated cost of devel- ing. The second stage spaceplane would be — oping this system was $3 billion and Lock- Due Z Que.7 127 One of Lockheed’s proposals for NASA’s RTTOVC programme. NASA Orbital vehicle design for Sukhanov two-stage-to-orbit flying disc proposal. via Bill Rose Two-stage-to-orbit Sukhanov rocket powered flying disc configuration. via Bill Rose Flying Saucer Spacecraft