Replacing the SRB's with Hybrids?

[Ultimate Buu]

To reduce the risk in launching a Shuttle, would it be worthwile to replace
the SRB's with hybrid rockets, providing that we can get them up to the
required efficiency in the next couple of years?

[Treez03]

>To reduce the risk in launching a Shuttle, would it be worthwile to replace
>the SRB's with hybrid rockets,

Get rid of the freakin liquids. They're the ones that blow up.

[Greg D. Moore \(Strider\)]

"Treez03" > wrote in message
...
> >To reduce the risk in launching a Shuttle, would it be worthwile to
replace
> >the SRB's with hybrid rockets,
>
> Get rid of the freakin liquids. They're the ones that blow up.


Oh really? Exactly how many SSME related catastrophic failures has the
Shuttle program had?

In fact if you look at 51-L you'll find that the SSME's were in the process
of executing an orderly shutdown due to lack of fuel and oxidizer when the
shuttle disintegrated around them.

[Penguinista]

Treez03 wrote:
>>To reduce the risk in launching a Shuttle, would it be worthwile to replace
>>the SRB's with hybrid rockets,
>
>
> Get rid of the freakin liquids. They're the ones that blow up.

But they were lit by a leak from the solids.

[Joe Pfeiffer]

Penguinista > writes:

> Treez03 wrote:
> >>To reduce the risk in launching a Shuttle, would it be worthwile to replace
> >>the SRB's with hybrid rockets,
> >
> >
> > Get rid of the freakin liquids. They're the ones that blow up.
>
> But they were lit by a leak from the solids.

If the SRB leak had been directed into a solid motor rather than a
liquid tank, would the results have been as major?

Of course, there's major offset-thrust problems in that assumption
unless you're willing to reconfigure the whole thing so the orbiter
sits on top of the stack instead of beside it -- which also seems like
it would have been a good idea at this point (even assuming the same
orbiter configuration we have now, never mind whether wings and wheels
was a good idea).
--
Joseph J. Pfeiffer, Jr., Ph.D. Phone -- (505) 646-1605
Department of Computer Science FAX -- (505) 646-1002
New Mexico State University http://www.cs.nmsu.edu/~pfeiffer
Southwestern NM Regional Science and Engr Fair: http://www.nmsu.edu/~scifair