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- Newsgroups: sci.space
- Path: sparky!uunet!gatech!concert!samba!cecil
- From: cecil@physics.unc.edu (Gerald Cecil)
- Subject: Energiya's role in Space Station assembly
- Message-ID: <1992Jul31.172421.1732@samba.oit.unc.edu>
- Sender: usenet@samba.oit.unc.edu
- Nntp-Posting-Host: augustus.physics.unc.edu
- Organization: Dept. of Physics and Astronomy, Univ. North. Carolina at Chapel Hill
- Date: Fri, 31 Jul 1992 17:24:21 GMT
- Lines: 44
-
- seds%cspara.decnet@Fedex.Msfc.Nasa.Gov writes...
- > The cross plane maneouver from 51 degrees down to 28.5 degrees has an
- > enormous penalty in payload. This is why you will NEVER see a Soyuz at
- > SSF orbit unless it is on Energia. The payload penalty will drop Energia's
- > delivered payload to around 50,000 pounds. I do not know the dynamics and
- > this estimate is based on what I have read in generalities regarding that
- > Energia could at best only deliver a Soyuz to SS Freedom. Anybody have
- > Delta V numbers for such a plane change?
-
- To change the plane of an orbit of radius r w/ circular orbital velocity
- v by angle Da requires
- Delta-v = 2v sin(Da/2) [ 1 ]
- For 39 <= Da <= 60 degrees this can be reduced by doing the plane change
- at a larger radius ra because v decreases w/ radius. However, the energy
- required to place the vehicle in the transfer orbit increases w/ radius.
- So there is an intermediate radius that minimizes the energy requirements,
- given by
- ra/r = sin(Da/2) / [ 1 - sin(Da/2) ]
- When Da = 39 deg, ra/r = 1, and when Da = 60 deg, ra/r = infinite.
- In this case
- Delta-v = 2v{ Sqrt[ra/r]*Sqrt[2/(1+ra/r)]*[1+sin(Da/2)/(r/ra)] - 1 } [2]
- w/ ra > r.
-
- For the case of an Energiya launch (51 deg. inclination) to reach Space
- Station Freedom (28.5 deg. inclination) Da < 39 deg. so equation [2] offers
- no advantage over [1], and from [1] you require a Delta-v = 39% on top of
- the initial circular velocity, essentially the same as that required to reach
- escape velocity (41%) from radius r! (This explains why the Apollo did all
- the maneuvering during the Apollo-Soyuz Test Mission ... the SM engine had
- the populsive capability and I believe that the Saturn 1B was launched
- at higher inclination than 28.5 degs. The capability was sufficiently
- marginal however, that the Apollo had insufficient fuel to reboost
- Skylab after the Soyuz rendezvous.) Energiya is capable of placing about
- 105,000 kg in LEO and about 16,000 kg to escape or approximately to Space
- Station Freedom. Soyuz has a mass of about 7,600 kgs.
-
- All this suggests that for Energiya to play any role in Space Station
- assembly, the Station would have to be assembled in a higher inclination
- orbit, say 40 degs.
- --
- Gerald Cecil 919-962-7169 Dept. Physics & Astronomy
- U of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3255 USA
- -- Intelligence is believing only half of what you read; brilliance is
- knowing which half. ** Be terse: each line cost the Net $10 **
-