Newsgroups: sci.space.shuttle
Path: utzoo!henry
From: henry@utzoo.uucp (Henry Spencer)
Subject: Re: Improving main engine power
Message-ID: <1989Dec9.071757.21783@utzoo.uucp>
Organization: U of Toronto Zoology
References: <1989Nov23.165606.27671@utzoo.uucp> <117.UUL1.3#5131@mvac23.UUCP> <5104@tekig5.PEN.TEK.COM> <10631@frog.UUCP>
Date: Sat, 9 Dec 89 07:17:57 GMT

In article <10631@frog.UUCP> john@frog.UUCP (John Woods) writes:
>(0) [I assume, without waking up enough to think it through, that lifting
>capacity is going to be limited by the size of the tanks, hence that is NOT
>why they are improving to 150%]

They'd still reduce gravity losses somewhat by accelerating more rapidly,
so there would be some benefit.  Also, there are several schemes for getting
more fuel into the tank, if it comes to that.  (The simplest is to just cool
the LOX and LH2 below their boiling points to increase their density.)
-- 
1233 EST, Dec 7, 1972:         |     Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology
last ship sails for the Moon.  | uunet!attcan!utzoo!henry henry@zoo.toronto.edu