Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!att!ihlpl!knudsen
From: knudsen@ihlpl.ATT.COM (Knudsen)
Newsgroups: sci.space.shuttle
Subject: Re: Soviet shuttle
Summary: Why not on top?
Message-ID: <7054@ihlpl.ATT.COM>
Date: 5 Oct 88 17:55:10 GMT
References: <1988Oct1.224801.11041@utzoo.uucp> <1109@cfa237.cfa250.harvard.edu> <6798@dasys1.UUCP>
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories - Naperville, Illinois
Lines: 24

Since the Soviet orbiter contains no main engines, I wonder
why they didn't stick it axially on top of the central Energia,
like a 2nd stage with wings?  Maybe this would create greater
bending moments or other structural loads on the "stack,"
but I always thought our (and now their) side-mounting scheme
looked ungainly and not very aerodynamic.

Any comments?  BTW, the latest Newsweek shows a color detail
of the Soviet photo, and looking very carefully under
the orbiter's butt you can see one nozzle of the Energia's
central cluster.

Newsweek also said that the simulator building for training
shuttle crews has just begun construction.  Perhaps this is
why the death of the original pilot is holding things up.

However, you can also see some unfinished-looking girders
(painted white like the rest of the oriber's rear) extending
from the butt.  Maybe these are part of the pad supports,
or maybe this is where the turbojet engines will be attached.
Perhaps the shuttle is months away from launch, but they took
advantage of the hiatus to do a dry-run of putting the "stack"
on the pad, just as we did at Vandenburg (hope we get to use that
pad).