On Monday, May 6, US space giant Boeing will enter a new era when its Starliner spacecraft will lift off from a pad at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida and carry a two-person crew to the ISS for the first time. So what better time to witness some of the rocket concepts the company has envisioned in the past in glorious CGI?
Boeing is currently at a crossroads when it comes to its airline business, plagued by all manner of scandals and problems, including the 737 Max failure and the ouster of program leader Ed Clark.
Things haven't looked good in the space exploration field lately, with the Starliner spacecraft causing all kinds of headaches for Boeing, recording problem after problem in tests conducted over the past few years.
Both NASA and Boeing now seem determined to absorb it and move past it. Two people, astronauts Butch Willmore and Suni Williams, will climb inside the ship atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket and head to the International Space Station (ISS).
There were times when Boeing dreamed of more than just getting a ship safely into space and back. A time when Boeing, like everyone else in this business, was thinking bigger, much bigger, than the means they had.
Like other aerospace companies, Boeing has spent decades designing a lot of space probe hardware that was ultimately never built. Fortunately, modern-day technology allows us to bring many of them back, providing a glimpse into a reality that never happened.
We continue to spotlight CGI clips showing never-before-built rocket and ship concepts from the past, put together by animation specialist Hazegrayart. This time, somewhat fittingly given the upcoming launch of the Starliner, the focus of the CGI video fell on Boeing concepts from the past.
A total of seven impressive rockets make the list, and all of them are clipped with simulated launch sequences, some images of the spacecraft operating beyond the Earth's atmosphere, and in some cases their landings.
The clip opens with the Boeing X-20 Dyna-Shore spacecraft designed for the US Air Force in the 1950s and 1960s and the Model 832-40, a twin-body retractable booster with wings. We see the massive Saturn-based V-4X(U), which should be capable of lifting the weight of 347 Tesla Roadsters (one million pounds/454,000 kg).
The video then flashes through the Big Onion, a single-stage-orbit rocket packing no less than 28 engines and a large multi-launch vehicle that should have quadrupled the payload of the V-4X(U). Finally, let's take a brief look at the Pyongyang proposal derived from SRB-X, the space shuttle.
You can enjoy these amazing ideas in the nearly ten minute video below. A longer clip than we're used to, but it's definitely worth every second.
„Oddany rozwiązywacz problemów. Przyjazny hipsterom praktykant bekonu. Miłośnik kawy. Nieuleczalny introwertyk. Student.