Newsgroups: sci.space.shuttle
Path: utzoo!henry
From: henry@utzoo.uucp (Henry Spencer)
Subject: Re: Unauthorized use of SRB's
Message-ID: <1990Mar17.234825.10154@utzoo.uucp>
Organization: U of Toronto Zoology
References: <10556.1440.forumexp@mts.rpi.edu>
Date: Sat, 17 Mar 90 23:48:25 GMT

In article <10556.1440.forumexp@mts.rpi.edu> Greg_d._Moore@mts.rpi.edu (Commander Krugannal) writes:
>      I know that work is being done on the Shuttle-C but has
>   thought ever been given to other uses of the SRB's? Perhaps
>   as a launcher by themselves...

By itself, an SRB couldn't make it into orbit.  There have been proposals
for SRB-based launchers using two or three stages, however.  It could be
done, but there are some technical issues with segmented solids as upper
stages (or so I'm told), and nobody has been sufficiently impressed with
the idea to pursue it.  I've heard SRB-X (one of the SRB-based concepts)
described as "the single worst shuttle-derived launcher ever proposed".
-- 
MSDOS, abbrev:  Maybe SomeDay |     Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology
an Operating System.          | uunet!attcan!utzoo!henry henry@zoo.toronto.edu