a_v_bw_o_n (1959, NASA photo no. 220, plate no. 3111, 10th IAC Rosen & Schwenk presentation)

NASA artist's concept of first stage separation/second stage ignition during the nighttime ascent of a Nova launch vehicle on a “Lunar Return Mission”, aka “Lunar Landing”. This stunning work was part of a presentation/paper entitled “A Rocket for Manned Lunar Exploration”, given by Milton W. Rosen and Francis C. Schwenk at the Tenth International Astronautical (Federation?) Congress in London, 31 August 1959.

The abstract:

"One of the significant human accomplishments of the next decade will be the manned exploration of the moon. Previously, the uncharted regions of the earth, the Arctic and Antarctic, the Amazon and Himalayas challenged the skill and fortitude of explorers. But these regions cannot long retain their status—the new frontier lies beyond the confines of our planet—on the nearest sizeable aggregation of matter in space—the moon.

Significantly, man’s exploration has been paced by his technical progress. The discovery of America was made possible by ships and sails of sufficient size and by advances, however crude, in the art of navigation. Oxygen masks made possible the conquest of Everest, and rockets—the exploration of the upper atmosphere.

The exploration of the moon is within view today. If it may be assumed that Project Mercury in the U.S.A. and similar efforts by the U.S.S.R. will establish that man can exist for limited periods of time in space, then a trip to the moon requires mainly the design, construction and proving of a large rocket vehicle.

In one concept of a manned lunar vehicle the entire mission, the trip to the moon and the return, is staged on the earth’s surface. A highly competitive technique, one favored by many engineers, is to stage the lunar mission by refueling in a low earth orbit. This would permit the use of a smaller launching vehicle but would require development of orbital rendezvous techniques. In any case, a vehicle of the larger type will be needed for lunar as well as other exploratory missions.

This paper presents a parametric study of vehicle scale for the direct flight manned lunar mission. The main parameter is the take-off thrust which is influenced by many factors; principally the propellants in the several stages and the flight trajectory. A close choice exists in the second stage where conventional and high energy propellants are compared. The size of the final stage and hence the entire vehicle is governed mainly by the method of approach to the earth’s surface, whether it is elliptic, parabolic or hyperbolic. The various methods are applied to an illustrative vehicle configuration.

Reliability will be a major factor in the success of any manned lunar flight. While no formula is proposed for improving component reliability, certain operational procedures can be used to advantage in enhancing the probability of a successful round trip to the moon."

Some really cool things to take notice of:
Primarily, the parachute descent of the expended first stage - for recovery! Talk about forward-leaning thinking - reusability - in 1959! I thought the Saturn booster recovery concept (via Rogallo wing) evolved a few years later, damn.. VERY impressive.

up-ship.com/blog/?p=5311
Credit: "The Unwanted Blog" website

www.collectspace.com/ubb/Forum29/HTML/000880.html
Credit: collectSPACE website

Note the enigmatic terrain below, commensurate with the exotic launch site depicted in photo no. 219. I still maintain it’s Nova Scotia...Southern Nova Scotia of course. Get it, NOVA? Complete with the destination beckoning in the sky.
Note also the folded up/retracted landing gear with its footpads ringing the conical-shaped lander. However, ignore the fact the nearer footpad is facing the wrong direction (I think) and the two on the sides, although correctly oriented, probably should’ve been ripped off during max-Q. Minor stuff that in no way detracts, just the observation of a pathetic old(er) man.
Finally, windows and a hatch are visible, along with what might be a separation plane or hinge-line near the apex.
Again, this is 1959, I love it.

As if the above information wasn’t enough, M. W. Rosen is none other than Milton “Milt” Rosen, of Viking & Vanguard rocket ‘fame’. The real deal. Confirmation:

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milton_Rosen
Credit: Wikipedia website

Francis C. Schwenk, possibly originally of the Lewis Flight Propulsion Laboratory/Lewis Research Center (btw, Cleveland Rocks) appears to have been a prolific researcher & valued asset to NACA/NASA. He even worked on the Satellite Power System concept, as late as 1980! Super smart, motivated, with longevity; traits you want in a rocket scientist. Also the real deal.

Being part of a NASA presentation, I assume this to be an in-house NASA work, which pretty much kills the chance of artist identification, especially for something from 1959. Damnit.

See:

www.alternatewars.com/SpaceRace/SP-4205/Chapter_01.htm

www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/SP-4205/ch1-2.html

Yet again, as is all too often the case, a far superior, much more informative item - from a non-NASA site:

www.wired.com/2014/01/rosen-schwenks-moon-rocket-1959/amp
Credit: WIRED website

An unexpected & welcome surprise. Although not an artist’s identification, a small win nonetheless, filling in at least a few additional pieces of the historical puzzle.
Obviously, with the ‘space flight/exploration’ field wide open, there are quite a few creative & original presentations within:

link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-662-39914-9

Specifically:

link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-662-39914-9_27
Credit: Springer Nature Switzerland AG/Springer Link website

Last, but NOT least, the following obscure website appears to have the entire presentation available to view, which includes the imagery. Bravo!!!:

dokumen.tips/reader/f/a-rocket-for-manned-lunar
Credit: Indonesia DOKUMEN website

However, this presentation - due to its historical significance - should reside & be readily available at some NASA or otherwise ‘official’ site. Something like what the NTRS once was.
Instead, it’s on an Indonesian document sharing site. Although I'm grateful that it is...you're kidding me, really?

Taken on: March 27, 2021

Tags:

Tenth International Astronautical Congress

rocket propulsion

cutaway

cutaway view

thrust

exhaust plume

shimmer

shimmering

10th International Astronautical Congress

International Astronautical Congress

Francis Schwenk

Francis C. Schwenk

F. C. Schwenk

Milt Rosen

Milton Rosen

Milton W. Rosen

Saturn Rocket

recoverable booster

space race

ascent

rocket staging

rocket stage

artist concept

artist rendering

artist’s concept

artist’s rendering

Project Apollo

Apollo Program

Apollo Spacecraft

moon rocket

moon mission

moonshot

lunar exploration

lunar spacecraft

Nova launch vehicle

Nova rocket

glossy photo

black and white « less

Sets appears in: • Breaking The Bonds & Firsts • Miscellaneous more » • Apollo: Conceptual, Artistic & Developmental « less

Groups appears in: • Space Exploration • Apollo program more » • Space Designs • Space The Final Frontier • BLAST OFF! to Yesterday's Future • Missiles & Rockets • Mid-century Space Illustration • Space stuff « less

Stats: 5,949 views / 3 comments