From: vince@offshore.ai (Vincent Cate) Newsgroups: sci.space.tech Subject: Re: Unguided orbital insertion (cheap upper stages) References: <9186edb5.0311101839.1d56c610@posting.google.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: 209.88.68.230 Message-ID: <9186edb5.0311151809.1a595160@posting.google.com> henry@spsystems.net (Henry Spencer) wrote in message news:... > Spin stabilization can last much more than 40 minutes, if the thing is > balanced properly and is spinning around the right axis. Trying to spin a > long skinny stack of hardware around its long axis, in particular, is a > disaster. This may be a problem with two solids underneath the payload > and an apogee motor on top. In NOTSNIK [1] the payload was a 2.3 lb doughnut (8 inch diameter) with a 1.25 lb apogee kick motor in the middle. So this is the type of thing you would want to do to for your spin to last half an orbit. This is an extra payload design requirement, that might bother customers, but could be ok for some X-prize guys who just want to get something into orbit. -- Vince [1] For info on NOTSNIK see: http://ftp.seds.org/pub/info/newsletters/spaceviews/text/spaceviews.9807.txt