Those Sexy Rockets
I’m a bit of a life-long space nerd. (I know!) Obviously, over the years, different launch vehicles have caught my eye. Much like worthy media celebrities, these rocket stars are more than just a pretty face…but the pretty face helps.
There are some very distinct families of rockets that pop up over time and in various countries. Since this is my list, I’ve shied away from the Soviet/Russian R-7 family (which includes Soyuz). While these are storied and proud vehicles, I’ve never really been a fan of the cone-shaped booster rockets. I’m also not a fan of truss interstage sections. It’s obvious that none of this adversely affects this rocket lineage, it simply irks my personal aesthetic sense. You meterage may vary.
Saturn V
First up is from the 1960s: the grand Saturn V. To see this this rocket fly…ooh, it just gives me goosebumps.
This is the rocket of my youth — and a heck of a vehicle it was. Standing 110 m (363 ft), it is a skyscraper of a beast. And powerful. During the first unmanned flight test, Apollo 4 managed to damage some KSC buildings almost 5 km (3 mi) from the launch pad, just from how loud it was. No one was quite prepared for it.
Two things together immediately make this rocket sexy to me: its long missile-ine lines and a stunning paint job. The Saturn V is long without being skinny and powerful without being bulky. It oozes both strength and elegance. The paint scheme enhances this while also being largely functional: allowing observers to measure the attitude of the vehicle as well as its roll position.
I don’t think another rocket will ever take the Saturn V’s place in my heart, but if one does, it’ll be one heck of a nifty machine.
X-15
The North American X-15 is sort of in a nebulous position being that it’s a rocket plane and not a missile. Still, I think the shuttle and Space Ship One have sort of blurred that line enough that the X-plane gets to sit at the table since it did make it into space a couple of times with a few kilometers to spare.
The X-15 was my introduction into aviation. The summer of 1967 saw my dad give me a small X-15 model. It was love at first sight. Now, along with the manned ballistic missiles that were being shot into orbit, I also followed this fantastic plane that looked more at home in a science fiction movie than on the dry lake bed at Edwards AFB.
You can imagine my amazement when I saw this plane “in the flesh” when I was in 6th grade. The storage/refurbishment building for the Smithsonian’s aerospace collection was just a couple of blocks from my elementary school*. One day, at recess, I saw this beauty, mounted on a flatbed truck, slowing passing by me on its way to storage. Wow. Sadly, and astonishingly to me, the other kids weren’t nearly as impressed. We saw each other again after NASM opened. It was like greeting an old friend.
The X-15 looked like what you’d expect an X-plane to look like. It was dark and mysterious. It was sleek and futuristic.. And it had a 1 million horsepower engine. That it had to be launched from a modified B-52 bomber only added to its mystique.
* This is before the National Air and Space Museum (NASM) was built.
Scout
This unassuming rocket might seem to some to be an odd choice since most people have never heard of it (though it is in NASM).
The first “live” rocket I ever saw was a Scout (I missed the launch). To a kid, this 23 m tall white and black, over-grown firework was darned impressive. Like the Saturn V, its paint scheme and sleek build were attractive — though it had me at the second-stage barber pole stripe.
Later, my foray into space sciences gave me a greater appreciation of how much of a workhorse this rocket was. In service for 34 years, it had 121 successful launches.
Space Shuttle Discovery & Buran
A “two-fer” this time. I mean, how could I not include these bricks with wings?
First, I want to talk about the Buran. When it was first shown, I (like many) scoffed that it was just a Shuttle knock-off. And it was. BUT, in many ways it was also an improvement. If the USSR hadn’t fallen, which also resulted in the demise of the Buran program, we might be talking about this ship at least as much as the space gliders that were in NASA’s fleet.
If Discovery, Endeavour, and Atlantis were the 1.1 versions of the shuttle, the Buran was at least 1.5…maybe even 2.0. Thought was given to the shuttle’s deficiencies and solutions were found to mitigate them. The primary example is that Buran doesn’t have the three main engines at the aft end—the engines are, instead, on the Energia booster. It saves orbital weight—as a result, Buran had a higher rated payload capacity.
One thing that deserves mention is the Energia booster. It wasn’t developed to only lift the Buran into orbit. It was designed to be a booster in its own right. While I think it made the Buran/Energia stack a bit unwieldy, it makes a lot of sense design-wise.
And then we get Discovery. Of all the shuttles that were built, Discover was my favorite. It flew 39 missions in 27 years of service. It was the “return to flight” shuttle NASA went to after both the Challenger and Columbia final missions. Discovery was the shuttle that could.
It was also one weathered space vehicle, and that added to its charm. It wore its missions in every heat scored mark on her tiles and thermal blankets. You can see this from a photo of the bottom of the nose section on her final mission. See how black the new tiles are? Remember how the bottom of the shuttle was all like that? See how almost-white the oldest battle-weary tiles are. This is a ship that has faced down the re-entry dragon and won every time…a little bit scarred but never defeated. How space-sexy is that?
Proton
Proton is a workhorse series that took its first flight 1965 and has now had 326 successful launches as of this writing. The term “heavy lift booster” is made for this rocket. I mean, look at it. It’s says: strength. This rocket says: Russia*.
What I really like about this rocket is that it looks like an NFL offensive lineman. It’s nearly constant, not-at-all-thin diameter broadcasts its imposing nature. It will not be denied.
Also turning my head are the six tanks that are part of the first stage. Many Soviet/Russian rockets have conical boosters, but the Proton has a more elegant design that, if anything, makes it seem even more powerful.
* Actually, it says “ПРОТОН” (Proton), but go with me on this.
Delta IV Heavy
Like the Proton, the Delta IV Heavy is a no-nonsense heavy-lift rocket. I mean, why use just one first stage when you can use three? Yep, that’s right, this rocket ignores the “booster” concept and instead straps on two additions first stages…which makes it look a bit like it’s giving a giant “FU” to gravity.
I long thought of the Delta series of rockets as rather humdrum. But then the Delta IV Heavy came along. The tri-first stage even eschews paint, going with orange insulation in a very bold choice. Actually, it’s very practical. Instead of solid-fuel rockets, the added first stages use liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen as fuel—which is rather unusual for first stages in general. In any event, this means that they are really cold and insulation is the fashion statement that makes the most sense.
Photo credits: All NASA except: ?? for Buran-Energia; USAF for Delta IV Heavy
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