Could someone take a look at this rocket and tell me if the thing could make it into orbit?

Question

http://i2.iofferphoto.com/img/1137657600/_i/10228270/1.jpg

This picture is of the rocket from the show called Salvage 1, i was wondering could a rocket like this work or would it be too heavy, some how i always wanted to build my own rocket and go into space, please let me know what is wrong with the design.

Answer 1

In a word, no. Weight is everything when it comes to launching something into orbit. A cement mixer as a command capsule? That's a lot of extra weight you are carrying around with you for no reason. Also, I seriously doubt a gas tanker shell has enough structural strength to survive the gee forces of a launch.

You could launch something that looks like Salvage I with enough fuel and a big enough rocket (which it clearly doesn't have). And assuming you did get it into orbit, it's a one way trip. There's no way this thing could never survive re-entry.

Answer 2

Don't think it'll work judging from the scale of that rocket, probably could hold 2 men in there, but it's too heavy &  won't have enough fuel to get it into pattern for orbit.

Answer 3

That rocket has everything it needs to get into space. Don`t listen to these wanna be but can`t be engineers full of nonsence language skills.

Answer 4

The rocket seems to be single stage with boosters. This will not attain the escape velocity to reach earth orbit.(about 8.2.kilometers per hour

You have to design a multistage rocket for your purpose.

Rocket has to lkift its own weight.So single stage rockets can not achive escape velocity

Answer 5

I don't think it being heavy would be a problem.  The space shuttle weighs 4.5 million pounds at take-off.  I think the two biggest problems would be the thrusters burning evenly, and the cooling of the rocket nozzles so they don't melt.  The rocket doesn't look very aerodynamic.  Are those legs on the top of it?

Answer 6

That was "Salvage I" from a t.v. series of the same name starring

Andy Griffith. The premise was that that he and his lovely chemist

wife discovered a particularly powerful rocket fuel, and got the idea

to "build a rocket, fly to the moon, and gather up all the junk that was

left there by the moon landings, bring it back to earth and sell it".

Needless to say that the series was a comedy, and that it didn't

last long.

An even better scenario was the movie "The Mouse on the

Moon" where the Duchy of Grand Fenwick sent a rocket

to the Moon to beat the Americans and the Russians.

Their notion was that if you had enough power, you didn't

need to have the rocket travel fast. Again, a magic fuel

source was needed.

Answer 7

Single stage rockets absolutely can make it to orbit, if they're big enough.  That's what the solid rockets are that do most of the work getting the Shuttle into orbit. But the ladder provides a vague sense of scale. It's probably not big enough to make it to space from the Earth.

Are those upside down rockets on the top?  That could be problematic.  And they're carrying a ladder on the outside?  There's got to be a better way than that.

I suppose it's supposed to land vertically, too.

You should know about the soda can effect.  Rockets that make it to orbit have a fuel to structure ratio about the same as a soda can.  So there's not much space left over.

But perhaps this piece of junk has a mystery power source, like an atomic reactor, and it can fling it's reaction mass at very high speeds, so it doesn't need so much to make it to orbit.  Maybe those upside down "rockets" are Bussard ram scoops, so air can be used as reaction mass, reducing the need even more.  This sort of thing always worked for Jules Verne.

Answer 8

I remember that show....

And, yes - if you have enough of the right fuel, you can orbit anything.  

Answer 9

The rocket isn't the problem. You can put almost anything into space.

The concept of slow acceleration won't work. If you gradually increase power to the point where enough is generated to produce liftoff, and continue increasing power, the first part of the burn (increasing power to liftoff) is wasted energy. If there is zero gravity and zero friction (such as in outer space) such an approach might produce better results.

But it was a cute movie.

Answer 10

you can launch anything in to orbit if you have enuf power. what were you planning on using for rocket fuel?