M
mikkelrj
Guest
Okay, im hoping some of you can help me out on this. <br /><br />If you were to built a hybrid rocket with the fuel stored in solid form, this would seem to me as the perfect solution for producing an effective and simple rocket that ultimately could use the atmospheric oxygen as oxidizer. A turbofan could deliever the intake for the first part of the uphill climb and then later it would be jettisoned to allow a scramjet like operation. Some LOX would be stored onboard the LV to allow for non atmospheric operation. This LOX could also provide some of the power in early flight to eliminate the need for moving parts. The LV would have a MECO capability by closing the inlets to the combustion chamber. Using solid fuel the complexity of the rocket would decrease greatly, but still maintain a high ISP due to the hybrid rocket design. A similar approach has been made with X43 and ATK's recent hydrocarbon scramjet test vehicles. But ultimately, by eliminating all the "plumbing" associated with liquid fueled rockets, the weight and effectivity would rise. <br />