[amsat-bb] Re: Thought experiment ... Rockets and balloons

2013-09-18 Thread Joe
It's called a Rockoon, and has been done before, google it. Thing is now days it's launch would have to be permitted by the government just as much as any other major rocket flight. or get out of the USA like into the gulf of mexico to do the launch. Joe WB9SBD Sig The Original Rolling Ball C

[amsat-bb] Re: Thought experiment ... Rockets and balloons

2013-09-18 Thread Bryce Salmi
It's to my understanding that the Rockoons didn't go to orbit, but did reach space with ballistic trajectories. The hard part with orbit is the pure speed needed. RIT had a programfor an orbital rockoon type project called METEOR a while

[amsat-bb] Re: Thought experiment ... Rockets and balloons

2013-09-18 Thread Joe
Actually it is a larger fraction than you would think. Because of Atmospheric Drag. Joe WB9SBD Sig The Original Rolling Ball Clock Idle Tyme Idle-Tyme.com http://www.idle-tyme.com On 9/18/2013 12:59 PM, Bryce Salmi wrote: It's to my understanding that the Rockoons didn't go to orbit, but did re

[amsat-bb] Re: Thought experiment ... Rockets and balloons

2013-09-18 Thread M5AKA
> Would there be any advantage (cost effective) carrying a launch vehicle say > to 37KM ... think Red Bull Stratos and firing the engines there??? Sounds a bit like the UK LOHAN project, see http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/07/07/vulture_2/ The team have been doing tests this week about

[amsat-bb] Re: Thought experiment ... Rockets and balloons

2013-09-18 Thread Brenton Salmi
I think everyone on this list should play Kerbal Space Program ( https://kerbalspaceprogram.com/) and you'll realize the getting into sub-orbital flight is easy, orbit however is not... It's actually realistic enough to learn orbital mechanics but fun enough to enjoy as a game... It's the un-offici

[amsat-bb] Re: Thought experiment ... Rockets and balloons

2013-09-19 Thread Tom Williams
Easy to check to a first order estimate - just calculate total energy by calculating payload mass raised to orbital height (potential energy) and accelerated to orbital velocity (kinetic), then figure what fraction of that is associated with raising the 37km fraction of the way. Because of t