Posted on 12/23/2014 9:45:32 AM PST by Patriot777
Russia’s space agency has launched a heavy version of the newly developed ecologically clean rocket family Angara. The booster is to take its mock payload right to the geostationary orbit – over 35,000 kilometers from the Equator.
“A 08:57 Moscow time, the heavy-class rocket Angara-A5 was launched by a Space Forces crew of the Arkhangelsk Region from the universal launch site of the state test facility of the Russian Defense Ministry [the Plesetsk Cosmodrome],” the ministry said in a statement.
The success was reported by Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu to President Vladimir Putin, who was monitoring the launch form Moscow via a video link.
The major peculiarity of this test launch has become its main goal: the rocket is to deliver its mock two-ton payload directly to geostationary orbit – the orbit right above the Equator that has a period of one sidereal day, or 23 hours 56 minutes and 4 seconds; objects rotating around the earth in this orbit can fly as far away as 35,700 kilometers from the planet’s surface.
Launching right into geostationary orbit has never been practiced before by any heavy booster prototype – usually trials are performed to a low orbit with altitudes of up to 2,000km before moving on to higher altitudes.
The first stage of the Angara-5 rocket, capable of delivering up to 25 tons to a low orbit, is powered by RD-191, arguably the world’s best “clean” engine that uses kerosene and oxygen as fuel.
Read more at http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=ba6_1419316298#A8brFhBRS7XHJdl9.99
(Excerpt) Read more at liveleak.com ...
Unicorn farts CAN indeed be used as rocket fuel! I KNEW IT!
"Clean" or more efficient? A liquid hydrogen/liquid oxygen (LH2/LOX) is more "clean" than kerosene and oxygen, as the byproduct of LH2/LOX is water vapor.
More efficient, methinks.
Gastrointestinary orbit.
That is what I thought as well. The headline does make it sound like they are using “unicorn farts” or other “clean” sources for fuel instead of conventional fuels.
“Using a mass accumulation of Vladimir Putin’s brain farts, we were able to fuel the rocket and launch it into a gastrointestinal orbit. But, unfortunately, SpaceX launched a rocket fueled with Cajun red beans into a similar orbit, its payload being probiotics, and caused the Vladrocket to rapidly decay orbit and burn up upon reentry. Some of the rocket parts did not completely disintegrate, however, and landed upon one of several of Putin’s castles. No one has heard from the man since.”
I’ve not heard of geptyl, and can’t find a link. Do you have one?
Kerosene (RP-1) has been in use by the US for quite a while. Saturn V first stage used RP-1.
I guess the Obomination administration drank Russia’s Kool-Aid and believe RD191 motors are more earth-friendly.
Russian rubbish.
They did not manage to produce expensive crap so use cheap Russia’s one.
Ah, hydrazine, that I know. Typically, the US uses that for upper stage, or for satellite boosters.
That contract may be in trouble due to geopolitical issues (plus US rocket companies making hay of the situation...).
I thought they just used vodka in their rockets.
While technically different, UDMH and hydrazine are somewhat interchangeable terms.
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