Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!ncrlnk!ncr-sd!hp-sdd!hplabs!hpda!hpcuhb!hpsmtc1!ham From: ham@hpsmtc1.HP.COM (Bob Hamilton) Newsgroups: sci.space.shuttle Subject: Re: Shuttle Rolling and Throttle Back Message-ID: <13820002@hpsmtc1.HP.COM> Date: 20 Sep 88 21:56:52 GMT References: <118@avatar.UUCP> Organization: Hewlett Packard, Cupertino Lines: 29 > The ability of this group to drum up non-existent problems and then beat > them to death with Rube Goldberg solutions never ceases to amaze me. Roll > maneuvers are done all the time with both manned and unmanned launchers, > and they are absolutely trivial to perform. > > Recall that in the case of the Shuttle, the degree to which it rolls after > liftoff depends on the launch azimuth (which depends on the orbital > inclination). If you did the orientation before liftoff you'd need a > rotatable launch platform! YES. I remember when I was growing up (as was Space Science), there was much noise in the literature about how one would have to mount the docking structure of a rotating doughnut type space station on bearings so that it could be driven to zero roation so that shuttles could dock... considerable speculation on the best way to do this. Then came the movie 2001 - Solution: Align shuttle with axis of space station roation. Roll shuttle in sync. with station. Dock. Oh. Yeah. (Why didn't I think of that?) > Geez. This discussion reminds me of the Golgafrincham B-ark gang's > solution to their problem of currency inflation... :-) > > Phil OK. I'll bite. --Bob (Pre- V-2) Hamilton