biology

Prometheus (spacecraft)

Prometheus (spacecraft) is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Prometheus (spacecraft) rather than just read about it. In short: Prometheus was a proposed crewed vertical-takeoff, horizontal-landing (VTHL) lifting body spaceplane concept put forward by Orbital Sciences Corporation in late 2010 as part of the second phase of NASA's Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) program. Design The Prometheus design was based on an earlier NASA design, the HL-20 Personnel Launch System.

Key takeaways

Prometheus (spacecraft) belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Prometheus (spacecraft) to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Prometheus (spacecraft) from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Prometheus was a proposed crewed vertical-takeoff, horizontal-landing (VTHL) lifting body spaceplane concept put forward by Orbital Sciences Corporation in late 2010 as part of the second phase of NASA's Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) program.

Design The Prometheus design was based on an earlier NASA design, the HL-20 Personnel Launch System. Prometheus also included other NASA-funded design improvements to HL-20 by Orbital Sciences that were done some years ago as part of NASA's Orbital Space Plane program. Whereas the HL-20 was a pure lifting body, the Prometheus design was for a Blended Lifting Body (BLB). This design combines volumetric efficiency with superior aerodynamic qualities. Prometheus could have initially carried four astronauts to the International Space Station or future commercial space stations but further development could have increased the seating capacity to six. The baselined launch vehicle was the Atlas V, but the design could have accommodated other launch vehicles. The cost of the development of the Prometheus spacecraft and of upgrading the Atlas V would be between $3.5 and $4 billion.

Commercial Crew Development program The Vertical Takeoff, Horizontal Landing (VTHL) vehicle would be launched on a human-rated Atlas V rocket but would land on a runway. The initial design would carry a crew of four, but it could carry up to six people or a combination of crew and cargo. In addition to Orbital Sciences, the consortium included Northrop Grumman that would have built the spaceplane and the United Launch Alliance that would have provided the launch vehicle. Virgin Galactic also confirmed it would be teaming with Orbital on the Orbital CCDev 2 project. After failing to be selected for a CCDev phase 2 award by NASA, Orbital announced in April 2011 it would likely wind down its efforts to develop a commercial crew vehicle.

See also Dream Chaser (spacecraft) - another HL-20 derived proposed spacecraft put forward in 2010 by Sierra Nevada Corporation

References

External links A Blended Lifting Body Aerodynamic Design for the Orbital Space Plane, Henri D. Fuhrmann, AIAA-2003-3807, June 2003.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Prometheus (spacecraft)

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Prometheus (spacecraft) claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Prometheus (spacecraft) before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Prometheus (spacecraft) ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Prometheus (spacecraft)

In research: Prometheus (spacecraft) appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Prometheus (spacecraft) in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Prometheus (spacecraft) is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Cancelled American spaceplanes, Cancelled NASA spacecraft, Orbital Sciences Corporation, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Prometheus (spacecraft) outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Prometheus (spacecraft) in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Prometheus (spacecraft) means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Prometheus (spacecraft) out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Prometheus (spacecraft) in simple terms?

Why does Prometheus (spacecraft) matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Prometheus (spacecraft)?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Prometheus (spacecraft).