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Kankoh Maru

U

Uncle Bob

SOC-14 1K
Talking about vertical deckplans, the Japanese are building their own version of the Delta Clipper, mostly to support orbital tourism. I missed it at the time, but the RVT (their version of the DC-X) successfully flew last summer (July 2001).
http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.html?pid=3128
http://www.isas.ac.jp/e/new/release/2001/06_01.html
08_01.jpg


Makes you wonder what NASA could have done if they weren't obsessed with landing like an airplane.

The Kankoh Maru, from http://www.spacefuture.com/archive/kankoh_maru_flight_manual.shtml
kankoh_maru_flight_manual.2.gif
 
I'm glad SOMEONE is doing this, even if it isn't us.

As I understand it, NASA passed on the Clipper because the design and test team managed to destroy their test bed version. What they (NASA) don't seem to have realized, of course, is that the team successfully tested their design "to destruction." Everyone else uses a rather fishy set of statistical calculations based on wear results you can't see without sensitive equipment, and presents their results as "Mean time to failure." Bleh. Give me a design that has been properly tested any day...
 
G. Harry Stein and a delegation from MDAC gave a briefing at a SciFi convention here in Dallas about 1994. At that time the DC-XA was still flyable, and had completed the DARPA test program. The NASA wasn't interested but the Japanese wanted to take over the program.

Congress forced NASA to take over the DC-X and budgeted $1 billion to finance the DC-Y.

NASA ran one test launch, which was almost completely successful. At the end of the test the DC-XA landed succesully, then one of the landing legs collapsed and the DC-XA fell over and caught fire. End of project, everyone go home. It turns out that a bolt was left out on the preflight.

I, and a lot of other people, found it suspicious that the only failure completely destroyed DC-XA and it was on an unnecessary test and the only one administered by a hostile NASA.

There may be several reasons NASA chose LockMart over Boeing/MDAC, but I think there is reason to believe that the LockMart team wasn't expecting to win. At thge time LockMart admitted that their proposal was largely the effort of one engineer near retirement and it bore a painful resemblance to Lockheed's failed shuttle proposals.

After they got the contract Lockmart did a crash redesign of the airframe and still found they had to put lead ballast in the nose. And the management structure was drastically reorganized spreading the work among several teams at different plants. After enough space activists screamed that this violated contract NASA and Lockmart reached a compromise that let the Skunk works "administer" the program that was actually being done piecemeal.

This doesn't sound like a serious effort to me. I think LockMart knew they couldn't compete with the DC-Y so they put together something that looked like a proposal without wasting company resources. When NASA gave them the contract anyway they had to jury-rig a program that resembled the contract enough to fool the lawyers.
 
Hello.
I think it realy means "Star".
Didnt someone and i should remember the authers name write a book named Fallen Angels (yes it is one of the free books from Baen but i'm to lazy to look it up and i already own it) that used this type of ship to get the astronuts back into space.
BYE.
 
Originally posted by Jame:
Ahh, the ingenuity of the Japanese.

Can anyone tell me what "Maru" means?
Click to expand...
Well, I'm not saying any of the above are wrong, but I found this page that says:

"In Japanese, "Kankoh" means tourism, and "Maru" means circle, symbol of Japan. Most ships are called "Something-Maru" so Kankoh-maru means roughly "SS Tourism". In 1852 the Dutch government gave the Japanese government its first modern ship, a steam and sail-powered ship. This was called " Kankoh-maru" though at that time the implication of the name is said to have been more nearly "Light of the Nation".

That may make some sense as its primary mission seems to be space tourism and flying the flag.
 
Originally posted by far-trader:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by Jame:
Ahh, the ingenuity of the Japanese.

Can anyone tell me what "Maru" means?
Click to expand...
Well, I'm not saying any of the above are wrong, but I found this page that says:

"In Japanese, "Kankoh" means tourism, and "Maru" means circle, symbol of Japan. Most ships are called "Something-Maru" so Kankoh-maru means roughly "SS Tourism". In 1852 the Dutch government gave the Japanese government its first modern ship, a steam and sail-powered ship. This was called " Kankoh-maru" though at that time the implication of the name is said to have been more nearly "Light of the Nation".

That may make some sense as its primary mission seems to be space tourism and flying the flag. </font>[/QUOTE]Far Trader is correct, Maru does indeed mean circle. For whatever reason it's long been a traditional suffix for boat and ship names. It also shows up in some ancient personal names and sword names.
 
Originally posted by Tanuki:
Far Trader is correct, Maru does indeed mean circle. For whatever reason it's long been a traditional suffix for boat and ship names. It also shows up in some ancient personal names and sword names.
Click to expand...
And in "X-Files" episode titles.
 
Not to mention unwinnable computer simulations in the Star Trek series ("Kobiyashi Maru") ;)

What Far Trader said as far as the meaning is concerend. The Japanese flag is the "Hi no Maru", "circle of the sun", so this is probably where the nationalist association in the original Kankoh Maru comes from.

The word "maru" has a secondary meaning of perfection and purity, and I believe as a suffix has an affectionate tone to it, hence people naming swords, horses and indeed people using it.

I've not been able to find any particularly consistent explanation of how it came to be the standard ship-naming convention, though.
 
Originally posted by ninthcouncil:
Not to mention unwinnable computer simulations in the Star Trek series ("Kobiyashi Maru") ;)
Click to expand...
Kobayashi Maru.

n_3.jpg
Kobayashi is a common surname -- means a small grove of trees.
 
D'oh! Oddly enough, not being a hardcore trekkie, I'd not seen the "Kobayashi Maru" name written down, so just transliterated it from memory.
 
Now Tanuki,

How about telling us all what tanuki's are famous for ;) And I don't mean being a rascal like Br'er Rabbit!
 
Originally posted by Ran Targas:
Now Tanuki,

How about telling us all what tanuki's are famous for ;) And I don't mean being a rascal like Br'er Rabbit!
Click to expand...
Now then, don't badger him. ;)

(OK, I know it's not really a badger, but humour me...)

Are you talking balls?
file_23.gif
 
Originally posted by Ran Targas:
Now Tanuki,

How about telling us all what tanuki's are famous for ;) And I don't mean being a rascal like Br'er Rabbit!
Click to expand...
You mean like this little guy? :D

tanuki3s.jpg


Well, traditionally tanuki are fun-loving rascals who are fond of a good party. They're clever, enjoy practical jokes, and love sake. They can shapeshift into any form. The human form is supposed to be particularly difficult for most of them and you can sometimes tell that the person you're talking to is a tanuki if they start getting fuzzy around the edges.

Tanuki resemble raccons -- they have a mask around the eyes, but they're actually canids. They're omnivorous and intelligent. In english tanuki are usually called badgers, or occasionally "raccoon-dog".

There's a wonderful Miyazaki anime called "Pompoko" which is about tanuki struggling to keep humans from building a suburb full of apartment blocks and stuff in their forest. (Miyazaki did "Spirited Away," "Princess Mononoke," "Castle in the Sky," etc.) Pompoko is being released as an english dub later this year.

Ceramic tanuki are popular, especially in stores and businesses. They usually wear a hat, carry a sake bottle, and have enormous kindama (golden balls) -- the association with gold being why they are popular, of course. Note the obvious kindama on this one:

tanuki-ys.jpg


And the even more obvious ones on this one -- that's not a football between his legs.
file_23.gif


tanuki2s.jpg
 
I sent some friends a tanuki statuette and they couldn't believe the 'nads on these guys! That's all they ever talked about, even naming him "Testi the tanuki"!

BTW, love your site!
 
Originally posted by Ran Targas:
I sent some friends a tanuki statuette and they couldn't believe the 'nads on these guys! That's all they ever talked about, even naming him "Testi the tanuki"!

BTW, love your site!
Click to expand...
Thanks!


I'm working on another design now. I should be posting new deckplans in the next week or so.
 
From the dimensions on the manual Web page (18m diameter, 22m height), and knowing it is somewhere between a cylinder and a cone in shape, I calculate it is somewhere between 200 and 400 dtons (probably closer to the lower end of that range). Of course most of that is fuel, but still, that is a substantial vehicle.
- Joseph
 
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