I think this is your best yet Dave - I'm a fan of the Hiller Helicopter, but that video is new to me.
I think they may have one thing wrong though - the rotor tips had rocket engines in the tips, with fuel flowing down the rotors. They were barely subsonic, and the movement seems too slow to me.
Regarding the Hiller Air Tug concept, according to this video* the rotors spun at about one revolution per second. A rough counting with a timer seems to confirm the animation's speed is close to that. My skepticism arose at the prospect of grappling the S-IC stage by its smaller upper parachute given the turbulence under the rotors, and having the chute be strong enough to hold the weight. I also wondered about how they planned to reorient the S-IC stage for cradling under the body. The video I included in my post conveniently clipped that part out. And, the video linked in this comment leaves out a good amount of detail, as well.
Great article. This was a topic I did not know much about before so very informative. I really enjoy the art you use to illustrate the different sections.
I love the illustrations that came out of NASA and the space contractors. So much care and skill went into making them. Personally, I don't think the artists have received enough notoriety or credit for their contributions. In future Creating Space posts I plan to highlight the ones I can identify (and even some that I can't).
Dave this is a great piece from the past with wild plans in the creation phase. Looking at some of these plans today versus the early days makes me wonder what were they thinking! The S1-C recovery by helo as they wanted to do it isn't feasible for many reasons but at least they were willing to try many ideas. Unfortunately these recovery ideas would cost more in lost missions than benefit of a successful recovery. Mid-air snatching isn't they way to to go. At least Elon figured that much out and created a fix to that problem! Thanks again for a great story from the past! And I lived it too! Oh I'm old! LOL!!
I think this is your best yet Dave - I'm a fan of the Hiller Helicopter, but that video is new to me.
I think they may have one thing wrong though - the rotor tips had rocket engines in the tips, with fuel flowing down the rotors. They were barely subsonic, and the movement seems too slow to me.
Still a stunning piece of work.
Thanks, Nick. Glad you liked it.
Regarding the Hiller Air Tug concept, according to this video* the rotors spun at about one revolution per second. A rough counting with a timer seems to confirm the animation's speed is close to that. My skepticism arose at the prospect of grappling the S-IC stage by its smaller upper parachute given the turbulence under the rotors, and having the chute be strong enough to hold the weight. I also wondered about how they planned to reorient the S-IC stage for cradling under the body. The video I included in my post conveniently clipped that part out. And, the video linked in this comment leaves out a good amount of detail, as well.
(*video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jq4Osbqhnxg)
Great article. This was a topic I did not know much about before so very informative. I really enjoy the art you use to illustrate the different sections.
I love the illustrations that came out of NASA and the space contractors. So much care and skill went into making them. Personally, I don't think the artists have received enough notoriety or credit for their contributions. In future Creating Space posts I plan to highlight the ones I can identify (and even some that I can't).
Dave this is a great piece from the past with wild plans in the creation phase. Looking at some of these plans today versus the early days makes me wonder what were they thinking! The S1-C recovery by helo as they wanted to do it isn't feasible for many reasons but at least they were willing to try many ideas. Unfortunately these recovery ideas would cost more in lost missions than benefit of a successful recovery. Mid-air snatching isn't they way to to go. At least Elon figured that much out and created a fix to that problem! Thanks again for a great story from the past! And I lived it too! Oh I'm old! LOL!!