Solid Rocket Smackdown, Episode 29 of Journey Into Space
7Solid rockets are great, and can be made with commonly found ingredients on the Moon, which is good. They don't have a throttle control though, and that's bad. In this episode, we test out Munar transportation on a budget, using solid rockets almost entirely with only a smidgen of RCS for the final seconds of landing.
The idea for this episode comes from an unfinished science fiction novel of mine, in which the early exploration of the Moon was done by steely-eyed astronaut-explorers strapping themselves onto spacecraft which were little more than solid rockets with a tiny bit of hypergolic propellant for final landing adjustments. The organization they worked for was called the Exploratory Services, an outfit with a mortality rate that would make a Kerbal proud. ;)
The idea was that aluminum and oxygen for solid rockets were both obtainable on the Moon, whereas liquid propellants were not as much so. However, these spacecraft were both dangerous and unforgiving of error, requiring pilots with both intestinal fortitude and an exacting eye as to solid rocket propellant loading. Austin Bonner, one such pilot in the novel, winds up running a solid rocket manufacturing empire from the Mare Anguis (near the Mare Crisium) on the Moon. He survived the Exploratory Services after the longest tour of duty ever: an individual with true grit and perhaps more than half crazy. Definitely been out in space too long by most people's standards. ;) He was recognized for his heroic accomplishments with the ES by being named the first Earth-born Citizen of Space, which was good because he wasn't going to pay his taxes anyway. ;)
Image of Austin Bonner (with apologies to NASA):
http://sphotos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/472157_2920933317466_213679142_o.jpg
Austin Bonner has a penchant for firearms. And WMD's: in the story he owns his own atom bomb which he carries around with him as he travels. ;)
http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/469739_2985118642059_1326027207_o.jpg
Blurbs on the main characters of the unfinished novel including Bonner:
http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/539985_2949692956439_1080842426_n.jpg
Hop-A-Bug:
http://sphotos-d.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/459972_2937366968297_1024121366_o.jpg
The Ranger, Bonner's solid rocket-powered Earth-Moon shuttle:
http://sphotos-f.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/477687_2949405869262_456107096_o.jpg
Austin Bonner (with apologies to Warhol):
http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/553389_2956631249892_1922232706_n.jpg
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