Some progress of WIP.
-Lunar Orbiter Expedition Vehicle(LEOV) has finally running a series of test flight article.The test model of orbiter(LEOV-001) is named "Liberty Bell 7",as tribute to the earlier manned spacecraft that take one of US veteran astronaut,Gus Grissom to became the second US person in space.
The test flight is made to test several critical aspect of LEOV.
-To test the SPS engine capability to restart during several critical moment of low atmospheric pressure & to adress the reliability by making several times engine cut-off & activation during flight.
-To test gliding ability of orbiter aerodynamic.
-Boilerplate payload test.
-RCS engine test,& FADEC(Full Authority Digital Engine Control)
-To test suitable type & size of propelant needed for SSME & SPS to be used for extended duration trip of powered flight.This included the test of Agena booster,Delta V upper Stage,Icarus SC-II,& Centaur Cryo stages.
-Ability to takeoff as an airplane by using SPS & SSME.
-Orbiter LEOV-001(Liberty Bell 7) earth atmospheric SSME & SPS engine firing test before it was scheduled to land on Dryden Research Centre,Edward Air Force Base.
-Historic touchdown at Dryden Research Centre,Edward Air Force Base.The Test article was successfully performed & Liberty Bell's finally received it flying colour.
-After touchdown procedure was completed,the ground team doing a post-flight check to see if any anomalies or propellant deposit are presence in orbiter body.
Then,the orbiter crew would be checked by flight surgeon team before they are allowed to step out from the orbiter cabin.
-After few month of Flight Article test & many system & flight rehearsel,the Lunar Expedition-Shuttle Program finally going into critical phase of test.It would test the orbiter to use the new launch booster,which combining 2 SRB(Solid Rocket Booster),an extended duration,ram-collecting capability external booster tank & finally the new main booster lifting system.
The orbiter would be powered by 5 RocketDyne F1-X mated on cylindrical main lift booster,which has the orbiter rear adapter like Saturn V's 3rd stage S-IVB to hold the upper stage orbiter.The lift-off also would be assisted by 2 solid rocket booster(SRB) to provide 85% of lift-off thrust before both main booster & SRB would be jettisoned after running out propellant for ocean recovery & refurbishing process.After that,the Space Shuttle Main Engine(SSME) would be ignited for full powered flight to reach earth orbit,& the external tank would using its ram-air to collect air for Service Propulsion System(SPS) that need to be started after the orbiter reached the earth orbit.
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