Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B64—AIRCRAFT; AVIATION; COSMONAUTICS
  • B64G—COSMONAUTICS; VEHICLES OR EQUIPMENT THEREFOR
  • B64G1/00—Cosmonautic vehicles
  • B64G1/22—Parts of, or equipment specially adapted for fitting in or to, cosmonautic vehicles
  • B64G1/40—Arrangements or adaptations of propulsion systems
  • B64G1/401—Liquid propellant rocket engines
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B64—AIRCRAFT; AVIATION; COSMONAUTICS
  • B64B—LIGHTER-THAN AIR AIRCRAFT
  • B64B1/00—Lighter-than-air aircraft
  • B64B1/06—Rigid airships; Semi-rigid airships
  • B64B1/08—Framework construction
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B64—AIRCRAFT; AVIATION; COSMONAUTICS
  • B64B—LIGHTER-THAN AIR AIRCRAFT
  • B64B1/00—Lighter-than-air aircraft
  • B64B1/58—Arrangements or construction of gas-bags; Filling arrangements
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B64—AIRCRAFT; AVIATION; COSMONAUTICS
  • B64C—AEROPLANES; HELICOPTERS
  • B64C39/00—Aircraft not otherwise provided for
  • B64C39/001—Flying saucers
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B64—AIRCRAFT; AVIATION; COSMONAUTICS
  • B64G—COSMONAUTICS; VEHICLES OR EQUIPMENT THEREFOR
  • B64G1/00—Cosmonautic vehicles
  • B64G1/22—Parts of, or equipment specially adapted for fitting in or to, cosmonautic vehicles
  • B64G1/40—Arrangements or adaptations of propulsion systems
  • B64G1/402—Propellant tanks; Feeding propellants
  • B64G1/4021—Tank construction; Details thereof
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B64—AIRCRAFT; AVIATION; COSMONAUTICS
  • B64B—LIGHTER-THAN AIR AIRCRAFT
  • B64B2201/00—Hybrid airships, i.e. airships where lift is generated aerodynamically and statically
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B64—AIRCRAFT; AVIATION; COSMONAUTICS
  • B64G—COSMONAUTICS; VEHICLES OR EQUIPMENT THEREFOR
  • B64G1/00—Cosmonautic vehicles
  • B64G1/002—Launch systems
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B64—AIRCRAFT; AVIATION; COSMONAUTICS
  • B64G—COSMONAUTICS; VEHICLES OR EQUIPMENT THEREFOR
  • B64G1/00—Cosmonautic vehicles
  • B64G1/002—Launch systems
  • B64G1/005—Air launch

Definitions

• the present invention is a combination airship and spacecraft that uses its lifting gas as fuel for thrusters to achieve space flight
• the airship aspect operates to provide lift with lifting gas in one or more gas retaining structures that may change in volume
• the spacecraft aspect provides control, power, services and interior space for missions of the airship/spacecraft
• An airship/spacecraft may be connected in arrays with others of its kind to form larger space structures and spacecraft
• a reaction thrusting power plant which mav use lifting gas as fuel is included in the present invention
• thrusters are capable of accelerating the airship/ spacecraft to sub-orbital and orbital speeds and altitudes, and may be used on any aircraft 1 0 or spacecraft having a large reservoir of gaseous fuel combustible by oxidation or in some other exothermic reaction
• the preferred gaseous fuel for the thruster is a gaseous fuel that contains hydrogen gas
• the reservoir containing such gaseous fuel may be a gas retaining structure of an airship, such as a gas bag, wherein the gaseous fuel also serves as a lifting gas
• Such reservoirs may also be pressure vessels which will efficiently hold internal and external overpressures, such pressure vessels also being included in the present invention. The separation of a gas retaining
• the invention also includes a method for the attainment of orbit by the airship/spacecraft with the use of the inventions disclosed herein as optional components of the airship/spacecraft
• the present invention has elements that are covered generally by class 244, aeronautics, and may be considered under 20 the following subclasses 3, compound aeronautical machines, 12 2, circular, 12 3, dual propulsion, 12 4, thrust tilting, 24 miscellaneous aircraft, 29, propelled aeronautical machines, 61.
• aircraft power plants adapted to use the sustaining gas of an airship as fuel, 97, devices for changing buoyancy of hghter-than-air craft, 125, construction of hull and internal structure of hghter-than- air craft, 114, ships, particularly subclass 342, 126, construction of outer surface of hghter-than-air craft, 158, machine or structure designed for travel in the upper reaches of and/or beyond the atmosphere of a celestial body, and, 60, power plants, particularly ⁇ " subclass 246
• folding diaphragms and folding membranes exist in p ⁇ or art, such as in United States Patent Nos 4,056,697 and 3,979,295, a special class/subclass for the diaphragm membrane disclosed herein could not be found
• the present invention is an airship and a spacecraft
• the present invention may include dynamic gas retaining structures w ith expandable frameworks which are used to maximize the altitude to which the lifting gas will be effective to lift the airship
• Such gas retaining structures may also be components of a pressure vessel which will efficiently hold internal and external o ⁇ erpressures
• Such a pressure vessel would function by reducing the pressure strain on any one gas retaining structure in a group of nested gas retaining structures, I e a se ⁇ es of gas retaining structures each of which encloses gas retaining structures of lesser ⁇ olume, to a fractional value of the overall pressure differential existing between the interior of the innermost gas retaining structure and the exterior of the
• the lifting capacity of the airship/spacecratt may be controlled by the partitioning of one or more of the gas retaining structures with a flexible gas impermeable membrane within each gas retaining structure
• a membrane would separate a gas retaining structure into gas tight compartments that may each ha ⁇ e the same potential volume as the volume of the gas retaining structure
• a membrane within a gas retaining structure functions as a pump by which gas introduced into the gas retaining structure on one side of the membrane causes the gas on the opposite side of the membrane to exhaust from a port in the gas retaining structure
• Such a flexible membrane may be a folded diaphragm
• the separation of a gas retaining structure into separate gas tight compartments with the use of a flexible folding diaphragm membrane is also included in the invention
• the partitioning of the gas retaining structure is utilized to gradually introduce lifting gas into one or more of the gas retaining structures while exhausting the atmosphe ⁇ c or other gases to be displaced by the lifting gas, thereby controlling the lifting capacity of the airship/spacecraft
• the present invention uses the lifting gas as fuel for thrusters which then power on the flight of the entire airship/spacecraft
• the present invention provides a single-stage launch vehicle which can use the airship structures as components of space-frames and larger spacecraft
• the types of propulsion systems which create a propulsion force known as thrust to propel vehicles at high altitudes are the rocket motor and the jet engine
• the propulsion force is the reaction force arising from increasing the backward momentum of a mass by the action of the propulsion system
• the rearward ejected mass comes from the propellant chemicals carried with the vehicle, and the backward momentum from the reaction between those propellant chemicals in the case of the jet engine, addition of heat energy to a controlled flow of air passing through the jet engine increases the backward momentum of the airflow
• turbo-rocket thruster Some of the features of the present inv ention disclosed here as the ' turbo-rocket thruster" relate to features of both jet engines and rocket motors
• the use of the hyphenated desc ⁇ ption turbo ' in the present invention relates to the inclusion in the present invention of a turbine compressor d ⁇ ven by a gas turbine, as in a jet engine
• the noun "rocket” relates to the fact that the present invention involves the rearward ejection of mass which mav come from the chemical reaction of propellant chemicals which are earned with the vehicle, in this case a reservoir of fuel in a gaseous state and a reservoir of oxidizer
• the turbine compressor of the turbo-rocket thruster is used to compress intaken gaseous fuel, which may not otherwise have sufficient density for efficient combustion, to a state of greater density
• the combustion of the gaseous fuel compressed by the turbine compressors takes place with a stored oxidizer which is injected into the compressed gaseous fuel stream
• gaseous hydrogen as fuel for power plants which compress air with turbine compressors
• United States Patent No 5,012,640 The Combined Air-Hydrogen Turbo-Rocket Power Plant
• the power plant disclosed in that patent uses evaporating liquid hydrogen to d ⁇ ve a turbine which powers a turbine compressor to compress air into which gaseous hydrogen is injected for combustion, and does not use the turbine compressor to compress the hydrogen
• that power plant does not use stored oxidizer to burn the hydrogen, but uses the air hich has been compressed for such combustion
• the present invention is an airship/spacecraft that uses its lifting gas as fuel for thrusters to achieve transition from airship operation to space flight
• thrusters may be of the turbo-tvpe, which intake and may compress gaseous oxidizer and/or gaseous fuel, of the rocket type, which use stored oxidizer, and or hyb ⁇ ds of those types
• At least one of the thrusters must be capable of functioning without an atmospheric oxidizer, as in the case of a rocket thruster
• Other thrusters may be employed to operate where an atmospheric oxidizer is available, as in the case of an atmosphe ⁇ c turbojet engine Propeller thrusters may also be used for low altitude stabilization and maneuver
• the lifting component of the airship is comp ⁇ sed of one or more gas retaining structures, which may be flexible, as in the case of balloons and blimps, semirigid, as in the case of a gas retaining structure that is partially or completely supported by a framework, or rigid, as in the case of dirigibles, in which a framework supports a hull, which itself may be a gas retaining structure, to contain other gas retaining structures, such as flexible gas bags
• a gas retaining structure may also be a combination of the types described above
• Each gas retaining structure comp ⁇ ses one or more conduits for transporting gases into and out of the gas retaining structure
• the airship in the present invention may also have a gas retaining structure with an integrated framework to rest ⁇ ct expansion and contraction or allow for flexion, expansion and contraction of the structure
• a gas retaining structure with an integrated framework to rest ⁇ ct expansion and contraction or allow for flexion, expansion and contraction of the structure
• FIG 1 An example of such a structure is shown in the diagrammatic view of the airship/spacecraft shown in FIG 1 in which the framework of the gas retaining structure is constructed of toroidal elements
• Such a framework may also be employed in a hull structure that contains gas bags, or be integrated with gas bags
• Such a framework may also be dynamic, to effect controlled changes of size and shape of the framework and redistribution of framework stress
• a gas retaining structure may also be comp ⁇ sed of a plurality of other gas retaining structures of one or more of the types described above , hereinafter referred to as a "compound gas retaining structure"
• a compound gas retaining structure is shown in FIGS 5 and 6, but contained within a larger structure, w hich can also be a gas retaining structure
• the component gas retaining structures of compound gas retaining structures may contain gases different from one another in chemical composition which are under pressures different from one another, from the en ⁇ ironment within a larger containing structure, which may also be a gas retaining structure, and/or from the external environment
• Another kind of compound gas retaining structure is one in which gas retaining structures of various sizes are arranged as nested shells, as shown in FIGS 7 and 8, in which a plurality of gas retaining structures are constructed so that a gas retaining structure contains another gas retaining structure, and where the containing gas retaining structure itself is contained within another gas retaining structure, and so on As with others of the compound type different shell
• a compound gas retaining structure also allows for control of the center of mass of the entire structure by alte ⁇ ng the density of the gases contained in the component structures, either by pressure or composition
• the system shown in FIGS 7 and 8 would always maintain an up ⁇ ght o ⁇ entation in an atmosphere if the densitv of the gas within the successively smaller nested structures were ⁇ ess than the next larger one
• the density of the gas in the component gas retaining structures is controlled so that the center of mass of the system is below its spatial center
• the preferred embodiment places the thrusters on a structure which may include controls, machinery, tanks for fuel and/or oxidizer, and inte ⁇ or space for crew, passengers, cargo, or equipment, or all of them, which shall be hereinafter referred to as the spacecraft body
• the spacecraft body may be separate from but connected to the gas retaining structure as shown in FIG 1
• An example of a spacecraft body which is shown diagrammatically m FIGS 1 and 2, has thrusters which are shown as sphe ⁇ cal structures partially imbedded in the structure of the spacecraft bodv
• the preferred embodiment separates the functions of the spacecraft body from the gas retaining structure, one or more functions of the spacecraft body can be integrated with a gas retaining structure
• the spacecraft body structure may even be a compartment of a gas retaining structure, as shown in FIGS 9-11
• the spacecraft body may include a fuel and oxidizer supply for thrusters, and may itself be a heavier-than-air lifting body, as shown in FIG 2, detachable from the airship component and
• One object of the invention is to provide an airship which has sufficient buoyancy to rise vertically to and beyond an altitude of neutral buoyancy in the region of the stratosphere/ionosphere and higher If the region of the atmosphere at which the vehicle reaches neutral buoyancy has sufficient atmosphe ⁇ c oxidizer for the combustion of fuel in an atmosphe ⁇ c oxidizer compressing thruster, thrust from one or more such thrusters may be used to further the ascent of the airship Where the atmosphe ⁇ c oxidizer compressing thrusters can not function because sufficient atmosphere cannot be compressed to provide atmosphe ⁇ c oxidizer for the combustion of fuel, thrusters which utilize stored oxidizer for oxidation of the fuel are used to further the ascent of the airship During the application of thrust the flight path of the airship/spacecraft may be controlled by directing the thrust
• the airship/spacecraft Up to the point of the application of thrust, and by reason of operation in an atmosphere of sufficient density to provide buoyancy, the airship/spacecraft is operated as an airship However, when the effect of buoyancy is insignificant, the airship/spacecraft must be operated purely as a thruster powered spacecraft
• the point of transition from operation as an airship depends in part on the altitude at which the airship reaches neutral buoyancy, which is the altitude at which the density of the lifting gas will no longer provide a buoyant force to contribute to the ascent of the airship
• the altitude of neutral buoyancy may be controlled by the regulation of the density of the gas in gas retaining structures, either by venting to the atmosphere, rarefaction by pumping gas out, or by increasing the volume of gas retaining structures, as shown in the structural expansion from FIG 12 to FIG 15, or a combination of thereof
• the preferred method of increasing the altitude at which neutral buoyancy occurs is by increasing the volume of gas retaining structures
• the gas retaining structure contemplated has the ability to withstand sustained internal and external overpressures
• the preferred gas retaining structure is one constructed using one or both of the structural systems which are the subjects of United States Patent Application Nos 09/276665 and 09/276666
• Such gas retaining structures can also be constructed to have the capability of changing volume and shape while maintaining structural strength
• gas retaining structures so constructed have sufficient strength and size to include as components in the framework of permanent space platforms, space habitats, and spacecraft for space voyages
• the gas retaining structure may also be used as the framework for cent ⁇ fugal artificial gravity which can be generated by rotating circular arrays thereof, as shown in FIGS 16- 19
• the lifting capacity of the airship/spacecraft may also be controlled by the gradual introduction of lifting gas into the gas retaining structures while exhausting ballast gases, which may be atmosphe ⁇ c gases, preferably nitrogen This may be accomplished without the mixing of the lifting gases with the ballast gases by partitioning one or more of the gas retaining structures with a flexible gas impermeable membrane within each Such a membrane would separate the lifting gases being introduced into a gas retaining structure from the ballast gases being extracted by separating the gas retaining structure into two compartments that may each have the same potential volume as the ⁇ olume of the gas retaining structure Such a membrane should be roughly of the same shape as one of the halves of the gas retaining structure compartmentalized, and attached within the gas retaining structure so that separate gas tight compartments may be formed by the walls of the gas retaining structure and the membrane Such a membrane should be attached within the gas retaining structure so that it can be expanded to the shape of either half of the gas retaining structure
• the membrane within the gas retaining structure also functions as a pump by which
• the flexible membrane by which a gas retaining structure is separated into two gas-tight compartments may be a sheet matenal thin enough to conform roughly to the shape of the bottom half and likewise the top half of the gas retaining structure while maintaining its structural integrity and separation of the lifting gases from the ballast gases
• the material would roughly form a flexible container which would approximate a part of a bag that would have roughly the same shape as the bottom half and likewise the top half of the gas retaining structure
• the membrane may be a folded diaphragm, as shown in FIGS 3a and 3b as 66, and which may be expanded by pressure above or below to conform roughly to the shape of the top or bottom of a gas retaining structure as shown in FIGS 3a as 65, the folds being shown as 66 therein and in FIG 3b
• a requirement for the material of the folded diaphragm membrane is that the material of the membrane itself be flexible enough so as to allow the expansion to approximate an inte ⁇ or half of the gas retaining structure
• Ballast exhaust may also be used to provide thrust for the airship/spacecraft while moving through the atmosphere
• Ballast exhaust may be transported through conduits from gas retaining structures with buoyancy lifting capacity control systems to a ballast exhaust gas thruster, which has one or more directional thruster nozzles for ballast exhaust gases to direct the thrust of the exhaust.
• a ballast exhaust thruster may assist the lift and steering of the airship/spacecraft.
• the preferred lifting gas for the airship phase is diatomic hydrogen, which provides the greatest lift and is a commonly used rocket fuel.
• the lifting force of diatomic hydrogen in air at sea level, both being at standard temperature and pressure, is approximately 65 pounds per 1 ,000 cubic feet of hydrogen.
• a fully loaded airship/spacecraft may reach a vertical velocity of 300 meters/second by the time it reaches neutral buoyancy without the necessity to consume any fuel for thrusting.
• the momentum provided by the acceleration due to buoyancy the continued ascent of the airship into space as a spacecraft is then a result of the application of thruster power.
• hydrogen may be used as fuel at any time during the airship phase of the ascent. Secondary to being the lifting gas, hydrogen gas can fuel the thrusters in the transition from airship to spacecraft, and then fuel the spacecraft phase.
• turbo-rocket thruster is a reaction thrusting power plant which uses a gaseous fuel and is capable of accelerating a spacecraft to sub-orbital and orbital speeds and altitudes.
• the turbo-rocket thruster may be used on aircraft and spacecraft having a large reservoir of gaseous fuel combustible by oxidation, and in particular as an integral component of the present invention.
• the turbo-rocket thruster can compress the gaseous fuel for efficient combustion with an injected oxidizer to produce reaction thrust.
• such a lifting gas may serve as the gaseous fuel for the turbo-rocket thruster.
• the turbo-rocket thruster is particularly suited to operate with hydrogen lifting gas, which may have been rarefied by an increase in volume of the structure in which hydrogen lifting gas is contained, by compressing the hydrogen lifting gas with a turbine compressor.
• turbo-rocket thruster has been disclosed as operating by oxidizing a gaseous fuel, it may also operate with other combinations of propellant chemicals which react exothermally or are otherwise productive in the release of energy in some form.
• a propellant chemical also means a compatible mixture of propellant chemicals.
• a first propellant chemical is gaseous and intaken for compression as such, and the second propellant chemical is either liquid or gaseous and injected into the compressed first propellant chemical.
• the embodiment of the turbo-rocket thruster illustrated in FIG. 20 includes a duct casing 1 which defines a gas duct 2, which in turn defines a gas intake 3, a combustion chamber 4. and an exhaust nozzle 5, and surrounds an axial compressor stage 6, a combustion chamber stage, and an axial turbine stage 7.
• the axial compressor stage 6 has at least one compressor rotor 8 having a plurality of compressor blades 9 extending radially therefrom.
• the compressor rotor 8 of the axial compressor 8 and 9 is located downstream of first stator guide vane 10 which supports a first hub 1 1 coaxially with the longitudinal axis of the gas duct 2 to rotatably support the compressor rotor 8.
• the axial compressor 8 and 9 is driven via a shaft 19 by the axial turbine stage 7, which includes at least one turbine rotor 12 with a plurality of turbine blades 13 extending radially therefrom.
• the axial turbine 12 and 13 is driven by the burning gaseous fuel passing across the turbine blades 13.
• the turbine rotor 12 of the axial turbine 12 and 13 is located downstream of a second stator guide vane 14, which supports the oxidizer injectors 15 and in which the oxidizer injectors 15 are located.
• the second stator guide vane 14 supports a second hub 16 coaxially with the longitudinal axis of the gas duct 2 to also rotatably support the compressor rotor 8 with the first hub 1 1.
• the turbine rotor 12 of the axial turbine 12 and 13 is located upstream of a third stator guide vane 17, which supports a third hub 18 coaxially with the longitudinal axis of the gas duct 2 to also rotatably support, together with the second hub 16, the turbine rotor 12.
• the operation of the turbo-rocket thruster commences with the intaking 2 of gaseous fuel 20 drawn from one or more reservoirs, or from the upper atmosphere, by the axial compressor 8 and 9. With compression by the axial compressor 8 and 9 the gaseous fuel is sent to a combustion chamber 4 to be mixed with an injected 15 oxidizer for ignition and burning. The energetic products of the combustion of the gaseous fuel then flow through and power the axial turbine 12 and 13, which is connected to and powers the axial compressor 8 and 9 via a shaft 19 and/or transmission. The energetic exhaust gases 21 then exit from the exhaust nozzle 5 to the space outside the gas duct 30 to provide reaction thrust. Gaseous fuel is supplied to the turbine compressor 8 and 9 from a gas reservoir by at least one gaseous fuel pipe 22. The process of supplying gaseous fuel to the turbo-rocket thruster may be assisted by electromagnetically accelerating the gaseous fuel to the intake, pumping, including ultrasonic pumping, pre-compression, and contraction of the gaseous fuel reservoir.
• the circuit for supplying oxidizer to the supply tube 23 starts at an oxidizer reservoir 24 storing oxidizer having an outlet connected to pump 25 which may pump the oxidizer from the reservoir 24 into supply tube 23.
• An oxidizer such as liquid oxygen may be first pumped 25 through a heat exchanger 26 included in the third stator guide vane 17 in the exhaust nozzle 5 so as to absorb the heat of the exhaust gases passing through the exhaust nozzle 5 and cool the third stator guide vane 17.
• the temperature of the liquid oxygen passing through the heat exchanger 26 is raised and the liquid oxygen vaporized so that gaseous oxygen passes through a supply tube 23 connected to the outlet of the heat exchanger 26.
• Liquid oxygen may also be made to pass through another heat exchanger consisting of tubes around and through the casing 1 of the exhaust nozzle 5 and the third hub 18 so as to absorb heat from the exhaust gases 21 and thereby initially raise its temperature and cool the exhaust nozzle 5 and the third hub 18.
• the heat exchanger 26 may be bypassed by allowing the oxidizer to flow through bypass tube 27 and subsequently into supply tube 23 by the use of the three-way, three-port valves 28 and 29.
• the process of supplying hydrogen, or other lifting gas that may be used as fuel, to such a thruster may be assisted by electromagnetically accelerating the gas to the intake, pumping, including ultrasonic pumping, and pre-compression. Contracting the gas retaining structures is another means for assisting the extraction of gas from gas retaining structures for supplying fuel to the thrusters, such as the transition shown between FIGS. 12 and 14.
• Such supply of fuel gas from a gas retaining structure may be direct by intake from a gas retaining structure, with or without baffles, or by pipes, ducts, or other gas conduits, or one or more of same used in combination.
• FIG.21 Another type of thruster can operate where the hydrogen is rarefied in the gas retaining structures, but with an atmospheric oxidizer, an example of which is shown in FIG.21 , in which a thruster as shown in FIG.20 is combined with a thruster that intakes a gaseous oxidizer to form a dual thruster.
• the general configuration is similar to dual turbojets, but with a common combustion chamber.
• Such a thruster intakes 31 and compresses 32 fuel gas 39 drawn from gas retaining structures with a first compressor 32, and sends it to a combustion chamber 34 where it is mixed with a gaseous oxidizer 40, which may be drawn from the atmosphere 41 and compressed 42 by a second compressor 42, for ignition and burning in the common combustion chamber 34, 44.
• the energetic products of combustion then flow through and power two turbines 36, 46, each of which are connected to and power the compressors 32, 42 via their respective shafts 35, 45 and/or transmissions.
• the energetic exhaust gases 38, 48 then exit from the exhaust area 37, 47 to the space outside the airship/spacecraft system to provide reaction thrust.
• Two configurations of such a dual thruster are possible: one of which is to provide injected oxidizer only to the hydrogen- intake side of the dual system with a means for mechanical division of the combustion chamber to isolate it from the oxidizer- intake side, which may be used with injected fuel; the other is to provide injected oxidizer to both sides of the dual system shown in FIG. 21, with both sides intaking fuel gas.
• the operation of each component thruster of such a dual thruster could also be isolated from the other by one or more mechanical doors separating the gas flows in each in the region where the combustion chambers may be joined.
• the buoyant ascent through the atmosphere to space flight would be significantly moderated by the lack of the necessity for the rapid bum-off of weighty fuel du ⁇ ng that phase of operation, inasmuch as activation of the thrusters is not necessary until after the airship has reached neutral buoyancy
• the airship may have significant upward momentum at the point of neutral buoyancy, the airship having accelerated upward du ⁇ ng buoyant ascent in overcoming gravitational force
• the regulation of such acceleration of the airship/spacecraft during buoyant ascent by the regulation of the buoyancy is inherent in the airship aspect of the present invention
• the reduction of the level of g-forces is also possible for the descent from space flight and can be accomplished with controlled deceleration by retrofi ⁇ ng of thrusters, rather than by uncontrolled atmospheric braking, so that the speed of the spacecraft is slowed to the extent that airship buoyancy will provide the braking for descent Neutral buoyancy will occur at a higher altitude as a result of the lower density of the gases in one or more
• an airship/spacecraft may attain orbit after being launched from a the surface of a planet such as the earth commences with the launch of the airship/spacecraft with detachment from its mooring, jettisoning solid or liquid ballasts, thus permitting ascent of the airship/spacecraft as a hghter-than-air airship Du ⁇ ng the ascent the buoyant force is regulated by the gradual introduction of lifting gases into the gas retaining structures of the airship/spacecraft and the concurrent exhaustion of ballast gases to the atmosphere
• the initial ballast gases would best be gases that could not react with the lifting gases under normal conditions, such as nitrogen if the lifting gas was hydrogen Nitrogen could also serve as a lifting gas, especially if was heated and/or maintained at a lower density in the gas retaining structures than that of the density of the atmosphere outside of the airship/spacecraft
• the introduction of the lifting gas into the gas retaining structure should proceed as rapidly as necessary to maintain the upward acceleration required to reasonably maximize the momentum of the airship/spacecraft at neutral buoyancy,
• the airship/spacecraft has a horizontal velocity which is the same as the tangential velocity of the surface of the rotating plane at the latitude of launch Such motion is largely the same as the atmosphere as it rotates with the planet
• Such horizontal velocity should not be augmented or countered by acceleration from thrusting at an altitude below fifty miles to minimize atmospheric drag and less productive expenditure of fuel
• the climb angle of the airship/spacecraft should be adjusted by redirecting the thrusters on the spacecraft body to increase the ho ⁇ zontal component of acceleration to bring the airship/spacecraft to the approp ⁇ ate tangential velocity for injection into the orbit desired
• Such an increase m tangential velocity also results in an increase in the centrifugal lifting force
• the continued lifting with thrusters to the orbital altitude desired, augmented by buoyancy and cent ⁇ fugal acceleration is gradually decreased with the increase in the tangential velocity to the point where, at orbital injection, there should be a very small component of velocity that is vertical relative to the ho ⁇ zontal velocity of the airship/spacecraft
• a method for travel from an orbit about a planet such as the earth to the surface of the planet may be initiated with the retrofi ⁇ ng of thrusters to reduce tangential velocity and reduce descent velocity to the same levels as occurred du ⁇ ng ascent at an altitude of approximately 50 miles
• the only tangential velocity that the airship/spacecraft should have is approximately the tangential velocity of the surface of the planet at the surface destination
• a number of the gas retaining structures should be near vacuum, and should start to take on ballast gases as the external pressure increases with the descent through the atmosphere
• the density of the gases in the gas retaining structures should be regulated to regulate the buoyancy thereof so as to reduce the velocity of descent to avoid atmospheric friction heating and adverse deceleration effects on the load and occupants of the airship/spacecraft Below the altitude of neutral buoyancy, the descent may be regulated by controlling the buoyancy of the airship/spacecraft and retrofi ⁇ ng of thrusters Landing of the airship/spacecraft is then
• the airship/spacecraft and methods for transition to space travel disclosed herein are adaptable to other planet-atmosphere systems, and are not intended to be limited solely for use in the earth system
• FIG 1 is a diagrammatic side view of the airship/spacecraft
• FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic perspective view of the spacecraft body of the airship/spacecraft shown in FIG. 1
• FIG. 3a is a diagrammatic side view of a diaphragm membrane for compartmentahzation of gas retaining structures expanded
• FIG. 3b is a perspective view of the diaphragm membrane shown in FIG 3a
• FIGS.4a through 4 ⁇ are schematic side views of a gas retaining structure separated into two gas-tight compartments with a flexible membrane in the sequence of the process of introducing gas into the lower compartment and exhausting gas from the upper compartment
• FIG. 5 is a diagrammatic side cutaway view of a gas retaining structure containing other separate gas retaining structures
• FIG. 6 is a diagrammatic perspective cutaway view of the gas retaining structure shown in FIG 5
• FIG. 7 is a diagrammatic side cutaway view of nested gas retaining structures
• FIG 8 is a diagrammatic perspective cutaway view of the nested gas retaining structures shown in FIG 7
• FIG. 9 is diagrammatic perspective view from below of an airship/spacecraft with a structurally integrated spacecraft body
• FIG. 10 is a diagrammatic perspective cutaway view from below of the airship/spacecraft shown in FIG 9
• FIG. 11 is a fragmentary view of the region of cutaway shown in FIG. 10
• FIG. 12 is a diagrammatic side view of the airship/spacecraft with a gas retaining structure constructed of toroidal structural elements and with a spacecraft body designed for integration into a space structure
• FIG. 13 is a diagrammatic perspective view from below of the airship/spacecraft shown in FIG 12
• FIG 14 is a diagrammatic side view of the airship/spacecraft shown in FIG 12 with a contracted gas retaining structure
• FIG 15 is a diagrammatic side view of the airship/spacecraft shown in FIG 12 with an expanded gas retaining structure
• FIG 16 is a diagrammatic perspective view from abov e of a space structure comp ⁇ sed of an array of three of the airship/spacecraft shown in FIG 12
• FIG 17 is a diagrammatic perspective view of a space structure comp ⁇ sed of a linear array of six of the space structures shown in FIG 16
• FIG 18 is a diagrammatic perspective view from above of a space structure comprised of an array of six of the airship/spacecraft similar to that shown in FIG 12
• FIG 19 is a diagrammatic perspective view of a space structure comp ⁇ sed of a linear array of ten of the space structures shown
• FIG. 20 is a longitudinal sectional view of a thmster which operates by turbo-compression of hydrogen and combustion with injected oxidizer.
• FIG. 21 is a diagrammatic perspective view of a dual thmster which operates by separate turbo-compression of hydrogen and atmospheric oxidizer and mixing for combustion
• the airship/spacecraft which uses lifting gas as fuel for thrusters to attain orbit may be utilized with various types of thrusters and gas retaining structures
• the best mode of the invention includes components which are also inventive, such as the turbo-rocket thmster, gas retaining structures compartmentalized by a flexible membrane, ballast exhaust thrusters, and pressure vessel gas retaining structures, as part of the present invention
• Objects of the invention are to provide, an airship hich has sufficient buoyancy to rise vertically to an altitude of neutral buoyancy m the region of the stratosphere/ionosphere, an airship/spacecraft which uses its lifting gas as fuel for thrusters to power it to space flight; and, an airship/spacecraft that can descend to a planet's surface from space flight. It is also an object of the invention to reduce g-forces and atmosphenc fnction heating du ⁇ ng ascent and descent It is also an object of the present invention to provide a reaction thrusting power plant which uses a gaseous fuel and is capable of accelerating a spacecraft to sub-orbital and orbital speeds and altitudes.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Aviation & Aerospace Engineering (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Combustion & Propulsion (AREA)
• Remote Sensing (AREA)
• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Plasma & Fusion (AREA)
• Filling Or Discharging Of Gas Storage Vessels (AREA)
• Toys (AREA)

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• 2000
  • 2000-04-11 EP EP00953628A patent/EP1175332A4/de not_active Withdrawn
  • 2000-04-11 AU AU66045/00A patent/AU6604500A/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2000-04-11 NZ NZ514076A patent/NZ514076A/xx unknown
  • 2000-04-11 CA CA002370423A patent/CA2370423A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2000-04-11 WO PCT/US2000/009617 patent/WO2000066425A2/en not_active Application Discontinuation

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