Introduction to Rockoons

_posts/2022-04-03-Rockoons.md

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+---
+layout: post
+
+title: "Introduction to Rockoons"
+
+author_github: Saee Sholapurkar
+
+date: 2021-03-25 00:00:00
+
+description: ‘Rockoons are high-altitude ballons that can launch rockets into suborbital and orbital flight.This blog discusses the the need, functioning and viability of rockoons.’
+
+tags:
+- IEEE NITK
+- Blog
+- Aerodynamics 
+categories:
+- Piston 
+github_username: 'saeesholapurkar'
+---
+
+# Rockoons
+
+## Abstract
+
+Since the turn of the century, space exploration has changed dramatically thanks to the unprecedented rise of commercial aerospace (aka. NewSpace). With the goal of leveraging new technologies and lowering the costs of launching payloads into space, some truly innovative and novel ideas are being put forth. This includes the idea of using balloons, also known as rockoons, to carry rockets to very high-altitudes, then firing the payloads to their desired orbits.
+
+## Why do we need rockoons?
+
+When you think of leaving the earth, you probably think of something like this:
+![image](https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/77229027/161416463-74d6d7ac-e783-4fd0-8161-0a187cbfc8da.png)
+
+The above image is the Saturn V rocket launching Apollo 11 to the moon. It was a chemical rocket, burning a mixture of kerosene and liquid oxygen to get its payload (the Apollo 11 astronauts) off the earth. 
+
+Chemical rockets are an exercise in brute force, but they are not the best way to go. They use a ton of resources, are environmentally destructive, and have substantial safety concerns. What if there was a better, cheaper, safer, and less ecologically disastrous way of leaving the earth? 
+
+Zero2Infinity is working on a non-traditional way of getting into space using rockoons. A rockoon is a hybrid of a rocket and a balloon that splits the process of reaching orbit into two parts:
+1.	The balloon first rises into the upper atmosphere.
+2.	The rocket then adds the required momentum to launch something into orbit or on another planet. 
+In March of 2017, Zero2Infinity launched a balloon to about 82000 feet. At that point, they were above approximately 99% of the atmosphere, so they ignited a small rocket motor and entered the desired orbit. 
+
+## Origin of rockoons
+
+Doesn’t using a balloon to lift a rocket seem like old technology? Indeed, it is. The first experiment of rockoons was performed by a group under James Van Allen in the 1950s with the aim of studying suborbital science missions for studying high-altitude atmospheres. He was able to send instruments 50 miles up in space to test radiation near the earth’s poles. It was through these experiments that Van Allen discovered that There was significant radiation at high altitudes.  
+
+## Functionong of rockoons 
+
+Rockoons are a simple and ingenious approach to spaceflight. So how does launch using rockoons actually work?
+Instead of fighting against gravity, they turn gravity into an advantage. A small sounding rocket is suspended beneath a giant balloon made of super-thin plastic, usually polyethylene, that is filled with a little amount of helium. As the balloon rises, the atmospheric pressure gets lower, and the helium heats, allowing it to expand and fill the volume of the balloon. The balloon can then ascend to a point where it is above most of the atmosphere, which implies that the rocket suspended beneath it is in a near-vacuum. It is at this point that the rocket fires, and since there is almost no atmosphere, The rocket is much more efficient. Another benefit of rockoons is that they can accommodate all kinds of payloads. Satellites on rockets need to be folded and housed in fairings, i.e., aerodynamic casings, to keep them safe from launch vibrations and then fitted on top of the rocket. With a rockoon, the rise to launch altitude is smooth and gradual. Hence, the air does not tear apart the object you are launching. This means the payload can be less aerodynamically sound and can still fly safely. It is just protected by a lightweight fairing. 
+
+## Future of rockoons 
+With rockoons, what is often not appreciated is that the very rarefied atmosphere at typical helium balloon peak altitudes fundamentally alters the aerodynamics of the launch of the rocket. Traditional ground-level launching techniques simply won’t work! There is a lot more to research regarding this technique. As the time when humans will be making frequent trips to space is not far away, economical and environmentally friendly practices such as rockoons will go a long way.
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