Nuclear Orion Memories

David Lesher writes:

My boss at LeRC wrote a proposal to have a self-reloading
rail gun throw slugs back and thus its craft forwards...


On a similar note, I've wondered if astronauts should
be allowed to carry side arms during EVAs. These things
would be auto-loading cartridge based CO2 air pistols
firing blanks or real firearms if the powder contained
its own oxidizer in the mix. If you're worried about
orbiting spent cartridge debris, use revolvers instead.
Need to be modified to allow firing with suit gloves
on or remotely by wire perhaps.

Besides looking really cool in the Wild West sense,
would these things actually generate enough thrust to
manuever in an emergency? Or is it easier just to install
thrusters in the suit for this purpose?

I can't believe this idea wasn't considered in the past,
Pat?

Dave

Fred J. McCall writes:

David Spain wrote:
:These things
:would be auto-loading cartridge based CO2 air pistols
:firing blanks or real firearms if the powder contained
:its own oxidizer in the mix.

You mean like, say, gunpowder?


Well sure. I don't see any reason why gunpowder would not
conflagrate in the vacuum of space, but I'm no expert in
that area either.

:
:Besides looking really cool in the Wild West sense,
:would these things actually generate enough thrust to
:manuever in an emergency? Or is it easier just to install
:thrusters in the suit for this purpose?
:

If you want thrust, just use a nitrogen bottle with a nozzle.

OK, that sounds very reasonable. Maybe holster it just as you
would a side arm for convenience sake.

The trick would be to hold and 'fire' it near your CG so as
not to induce unnecessary yaw, roll and pitch, but give you
propulsion in the direction you want to go.

I suspect the way you'd probably hold the device or firearm
would be very different if trying to maneuver in space vs
trying to shoot something on the ground.

How did that handheld item that Ed White used in Gemini ?
work for him? Was that a nitrogen bottle? IIRC it had two
nozzles at the ends of a small pipe in the shape of a T?

Dave

"David Spain" wrote in message
...
OK, that sounds very reasonable. Maybe holster it just as you
would a side arm for convenience sake.

The trick would be to hold and 'fire' it near your CG so as
not to induce unnecessary yaw, roll and pitch, but give you
propulsion in the direction you want to go.

I suspect the way you'd probably hold the device or firearm
would be very different if trying to maneuver in space vs
trying to shoot something on the ground.

How did that handheld item that Ed White used in Gemini ?
work for him? Was that a nitrogen bottle? IIRC it had two
nozzles at the ends of a small pipe in the shape of a T?

That thing didn't work very well at all. As for the details, they are,
quite literally, history, so maybe you should read up on that topic, hmmmmm?

Also, try reading about other Gemini experiments in that area, as well as
Skylab and the development of the shuttle MMU and SAFER.

Knowledge... it makes you look smarter than ignorance.

Jeff
--
"Take heart amid the deepening gloom
that your dog is finally getting enough cheese" - Deteriorata - National
Lampoon

David Spain wrote:
Well sure. I don't see any reason why gunpowder would not
conflagrate in the vacuum of space, but I'm no expert in
that area either.

I'm pretty sure both black and smokeless powder will detonate in a vacuum.
How did that handheld item that Ed White used in Gemini ?
work for him? Was that a nitrogen bottle?

It used two nitrogen bottles.

IIRC it had two
nozzles at the ends of a small pipe in the shape of a T?

Three nozzles; one faced forward:
http://history.nasa.gov/SP-4002/images/fig99.jpg
It only worked in a mediocre manner.
The problem with any system using only compressed gas in tanks is that
your compressed gas reserves run out fairly quickly, and your delta v is
fairly limited.
IIRC, they later ran a air line down the EVA umbilical connected to a
gas supply inside the Gemini.

Pat

"Jeff Findley" writes:

That thing didn't work very well at all. As for the details, they are,
quite literally, history, so maybe you should read up on that topic, hmmmmm?

Also, try reading about other Gemini experiments in that area, as well as
Skylab and the development of the shuttle MMU and SAFER.

Knowledge... it makes you look smarter than ignorance.


When one asks a simple question a simple answer will suffice.
I didn't ask for the complete history of EVA propulsion.

Smugness doesn't tend to want me to follow any of your suggestions
regardless of their merit. How about a degree of civility?

Dave