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Old April 25th 07, 05:56 PM posted to sci.space.policy,sci.space.history
John[_3_]
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Default How to leave Dyna-Soar (or MOL) during an Abort WAS: Dyna-Soar/Atlas-Centaur

"Dyna-Soar on a Atlas-Centaur"?

Hmmmmm, I had only seen the Titan IIIC version. Thanks for the
thread.

But I have a question. As I recall Gemini used ejection seats for
early aborts because the Titan II catastrophically failed in such a
way that seats were feasible (slower, smaller fireball), whereas
Mecury and Apollo catastrophically failed in such a way that seats
were out of the question.

How was a crew supposed to get away from the Atlas Centaur in a
hurry? IIRC, an escape tower was not fitted to Dyna-Soar and since
Atlas would not permit the use of a seat in Mercury, it would seem the
same would be the case for Dyna-Soar.

AND . . . how was a Dyna-Soar (or MOL) crew supposed to get away from
a Titan IIIC? SRBs can fail very quickly and with TONS of nasty
debris (recall the Delta at the Cape a few years ago or the Titan III/
IV loss at Vandenburg in the mid 1980's. Also remember the first
launch attempt of Ariane V, the SRBs were not the root cause, but the
rupture of the solids was spectacular)

Thanks and take care . . .

John