Rombus Rocket 1960's era Reusable Rocket by Philip Bono

Animation based from a 1963 paper by Philip Bono
The ROMBUS
AN INTEGRATED SYSTEMS CONCEPT
FOR A REUSABLE ORBITAL MODULE
(BOOSTER & UTILITY SHUTTLE)
The objective of this paper is to define a conceptual design for a reusable
surface-to-orbit manned cargo carrier which can deliver a payload of many
hundreds of tons to a 175 nautical mile orbital altitude. Recovery is
accomplished by deployment of a subsonic drag device and terminal retrothrust.

[@manriquegarron2362]

I think For All Mankind is getting their rocket designs from here

[@stekra3159]

Na ther is no Nostalga in these they will not but they should.

[@Nidhogg13]

For all Mankind and Hazegrayart are getting their designs from the same place: actual ideas that people had and made designs for, but that were never built.

[@creatorchannel8845]

These rocket designs were already made decades before this video was even made

[@davisdf3064]

Super Orion Interestelar Ark when

[@daspaceboy6280]

Ikr 🧑‍🚀😂

[@montigobear]

You do it all: scratchy film leader, sun-flare, shaky-cam, drifting framing of the subject indicative of a long lens, and the astronauts to give Bono's rocket the needed scale. This ain't your first rodeo! After yesterdays 'landing', Bono's concept suddenly becomes reasonable. Well done, sir! And that first shot, the fleet of ships ready for launch -- straight out of a Communist SF film!

[@revenevan11]

You've nailed pretty much everything I wanted go compliment in this video!

[@Bananappleboy]

i legit just read this in the old-video-movie narrator voice that litterally everybody spoke in

[@ateslabattery115]

That Saturn V in the back at the beginning be like *chuckles "Im in danger."

[@AndrewTubbiolo]

4000 years from now an archeologist is going to dig up the KZbin server this stuff is on and think we had the most excellent space age right out of the box.

[@JosephJoboLicayan]

Good old asparagus staging Works beautifully on paper, yet is damn near impossible irl

[@devindykstra]

Very Kerbal!

[@hphp31416]

fuel pipes are most advanced equipment in KSP

[@facedeer]

This wasn't using asparagus staging, though. Those were drop tanks and they were tapped sequentially.

[@hdufort]

Not asparagus since there is no crossfeed

[@trishaykaul9511]

If I did not know that this was an animation, I would easily have thought this was real. Keep it up!

[@thefirstsin]

Have you seen the Sn10 launch

[@trishaykaul9511]

@@thefirstsin Yep

[@thefirstsin]

@@trishaykaul9511 alright!!

[@500features]

@@trishaykaul9511 That was animation too.

[@riot2136]

@@500features parts of the event showed an animated version of what the SN10 launch was predicted to look like if successful, but the launch did take place in reality

[@GURken]

I keep faith in humanity every time I see a Hazegrayart video with 0 dislikes.

[@fask69]

yo

[@forgeskygaming3355]

Oof spoke too fast... He's got 1 dislike

[@fask69]

you remember me younger when i used this pfp, like 6 years ago

[@dangerzonegaming5187]

27 dislikes

[@paulhaynes8045]

A nice twist to the usual strap on booster approach - strap on tanks. No problems recovering them from the sea and far easier to prep for the next flight than boosters.

[@xinyansun9174]

Proton liked this video.

[@ShigeruNishitani]

I see an aerospike engine, I like

[@astronut42]

Yay another crazy rocket design!

[@TheOwenMajor]

Gorgeous interaction between the plume and the smoke and clouds.

[@JosephJoboLicayan]

Really loving you giving life to these old out of these world rocket designs. Please dont stop and keep up the great work!

[@dsdy1205]

What's really cool about the ROMBUS is it's stage-and-a-half-to-orbit design (SAHTO?) much like Atlas before it. If you look at the discarded stages they don't have rocket engines on them, they're basically drop tanks

[@retrofan42]

Thank you thank you thank you!!! I have been waiting for years for someone to do one of Bono's designs in a simulation or animation. I first read the book "Frontiers Of Space" in high school in the late 70s, and the designs always intrigued me. Many years later, I was able to get a copy of the book (written by Phillip Bono and Kenneth Gatland). There are a lot of cool designs in there that use a similar idea of the torroidal nozzle design and the drop-off tanks, plus some that are meant to be a suborbital transport. There is also a concept drawing of an idea for recovery and reuse of the Saturn V first stage if the Apollo Applications Program had been chosen instead of the Shuttle.

[@revenevan11]

I love the gigantic toroidal aerospike on this one. That's also a really interesting bit of history to hear about the apollo applications program, and the concept drawing to possibly reuse the Saturn 5's 1st stage is one I'll have to look up for sure!

[@Setebos]

I first came across this in Bono's 1969 book "Frontiers of Space". Am so glad to see it realized visually here.

[@charlesmasters7644]

I still have my copy of Frontiers of Space by Philip Bono & Kenneth Gatland.

[@Setebos]

@@charlesmasters7644 Same here.

[@michaelprice3031]

Wasn't expecting it to pull a SpaceX at the end!

[@BrokenLifeCycle]

SpaceX landings are hover-slams. This is a controlled hover and landing like Blue Origins.

[@RoclerBeats]

@@BrokenLifeCycle superheavy will be able to hover i think

[@D_Rogers]

I was thinking the same.. Could have increased the payload to orbit massively if it had just splashed down instead!! :)

[@andie_pants]

Theoretical rocket designers were fond of their short stubby rockets back in the day, weren't they?

[@rundownpear2601]

I wouldn’t call this short lol

[@funnyitworkedlasttime6611]

It’s got it’s advantages. That’s why you see Soyuz launching in a blizzard... that, and because, well, they’re Russian.

[@randycampbell6307]

Trucks and Trains are the reason you don't see "short-and-stubby" (and if you think THIS is you should check out the "NEXUS" version of the Saturn V first stage, {hint-hint} which is 50ft in diameter and just about that tall but still fully capable of lifting the rest of the stack AND fully recoverable/reusable... and it literally got ONE paragraph, and two pictures in the study :) ) because while it solves almost all the stability and reentry problems of bringing a stage back to Earth you literally can't ship such stages by conventional transport. If you've seen Hazeygrayart's SERV video I'll point out that to move it they planned on modifying the "Bay" class barges with outrigger sponson's to almost double it's beam AND still had to tilt the SERV at an angle to get it to fit :) In ROMBUS's case they could actually use the "Bay" class barges but they had to rebuild several bridges to allow them to swing out of the way so it all could get by. (SERV planned to just build a new damn factory at across the bay from the Cape :) )

[@Xatzimi]

@@funnyitworkedlasttime6611 Specifically, because R-7 derivatives were unable to light the RD-107 engines in flight, so having to light them all on the ground necessitated its shape

[@funnyitworkedlasttime6611]

@@Xatzimi because when it was designed they didn’t know if it was even POSSIBLE to light an engine in flight! That’s how old that design is!!!

[@vladimus9749]

Every one of your videos is a work of art. Thank you for "preserving" this history.

[@SuperODST1]

Oh wow! It's hard to find stuff related to the ROMBUS, thanks for this!

[@andreasilvestri1696]

Great Philip Bono!! I've ready his books in the early 70'!! A genius... drove me toward real based sci-fi.. Still got them!!! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

[@Tordogor]

I have been a fan of Bono designs for decades. If I were a Hi-Tech tycoon, my private Space program would go Bono all the way!

[@jmstudios457]

I love all these old SSTO concepts!

[@stevenpilling5318]

Those plug nozzle ring thrusters were supposed to be more efficient than the bell nozzles we still use today. There were many proposed spacecraft built around the concept. The road not taken!

[@ashwinpotluri3788]

Amazing animation! I am awe-struck!

[@robertevans6481]

Such detail from the clouds to the ripples in the parachutes....awesome!!

[@fridaycaliforniaa236]

Oh gawd I'm always so happy when you post a new video =)

[@lewismassie]

Nice use of the Space Shuttle SRB audio (I've listened to it so many times it's very recognisable now)

[@adrianperez3375]

I can't like this enough. So very good. Thank you.

[@andie_pants]

Man, I still have a lump in my throat from the last one!

[@michagorski625]

One of your best movies. That retro intro at the start, really set the mood for the whole experience. Perfecto!

[@fask69]

how do you find these old underground rocket designs? i love these concepts

[@z33r0now3]

I like the most with your videos, that the movement of all the parts is believable and appears physically correct.

[@caav56]

The only mistake I'm seeing is that it did not jettison the SRBs (those rounded cylindrical auxiliary modules with engines are marked "Solid Rockets" on the original drawing). Otherwise, great work!

[@dsdy1205]

uhm, what? they've always been drop tanks

[@caav56]

@@dsdy1205 8 drop tanks, 4 SRBs.

[@dsdy1205]

@@caav56 oh wow you're right I've learnt something new today

[@sirrodney61]

Nice touch taking audio of the Shuttle SRBs decoupling.

[@louisshelley6631]

Love the animations, every time I see your animations I just want to boot up ksp and try to recreate them

[@fridaycaliforniaa236]

Same lol

[@Tom0316_]

Huh- so im not the only one

[@deregapreyahvattaffdiff]

I tried that the problem is mostly the lower part by it's shape it in nearly impossible to make the TPS work in KSP, But I suggest making Ithacus, it's descendant instead basically the same thing but with reverse wing on the side and full propulsive landing.

[@sayra-auswandernnachparagu4363]

Again good old fashion ideas... i love it really. gj

[@fabricea92]

Stunning as always ! Why not a future episode about the Star-raker ?

[@CausticLemons7]

Hazegrayart notifications must be immediately viewed. I love this work!

[@datathunderstorm]

Great work! So realistic, I’d literally believe what I’m seeing (in fact, while watching, I completely lose myself in the moment ☺️). These exquisite designs probably exist on an alternate earth (in a parallel world). Love the time period documentary newsreel touch too! Pure genius!!!

[@awddwa6544]

You're videos get better each time you upload, great video!

[@raine8553]

Maybe u can try to make MOL animation or gemini paraglide (yes it was planned) Also fun fact: first spacecraft to be reused was actually gemini that flew in gemini 2 and Mol test mission

[@blohaj]

mmmmm the engine sounds on this video are so damn satisfying.

[@kingofaesthetics9407]

There was an adapted concept of this rocket that was also proposed in 1963 called Ithacus, it was intended for transporting troops and military equipment to other continents via sub-orbital trajectories. nationalinterest.org/blog/reboot/space-troopers-pentagon-wanted-marines-ride-ballistic-missiles-battle-178978

[@stevenpilling5318]

I think that was "Icarus". It was a ballistic rocket transport to be capable of delivering half a battalion of troops anywhere in the world within an hour!

[@caav56]

@@stevenpilling5318 It's the same thing. The vehicle was renamed to ITHACUS after someone pointed out unfortunate symbolism with calling it after the legend of Icarus.

[@chrisediger2061]

Did the main booster use an aerospike engine? Amazing video! Keep up the awesome work.

[@revenevan11]

Yeah, one giant toroidal aerospike! Looks like somewhere between 50 to 75% truncated at a glance but idk. Seems like a recreation of this would be the perfect use of something like the tweakscale mod in KSP lol.

[@HalNordmann]

Almost all of Phil Bono's designs use a plug-nozzle aerospike.

[@IvorMektin1701]

Yeah, but does it blow up eight minutes later???

[@trishaykaul9511]

Lol I see what you did there

[@pandapops5428]

*laughs in Methane leak*

[@trishaykaul9511]

@@pandapops5428 lol

[@antsky371]

@Rich OMG ahaha, RIP SN10

[@trishaykaul9511]

@@antsky371 RIP. Atleast it landed and completed a succesful flight and then left with a treat to the eyes.

[@probablyari6121]

You deserve more subs, these are such high quality

[@Wayoutthere]

OUTstanding visuals, and great music as well.

[@Tokeli]

good gosh heck this is amazing, like always. i HAVE to know... what font is that on the title card?!

[@mariasirona1622]

Imma take some inspiration for an Eve Ascent Vehicle

[@leosan6893]

Great animation , full of details

[@deregapreyahvattaffdiff]

Ah yes Bono, the plug nozzle guy. You know it's him if you see a plug nozzle.

[@randycampbell6307]

I love what you've done with the place :) The old-school "promotional film" opening is great. One minor nit-pick, the 'cargo' tanks would be mounted on the 'nose' instead of the 'standard' cargo fairing you used. And did you tease "Selene" there being delivered too. I think it was a bit small for the Ares proposal.... So any plans to do something like Bono's Mars Glider? Oh and for an FYI to everyone, (there are always over 100 comments by the time I see these :) ) this is NOT an SSTO due to the drop tanks. It's considered a "Stage-and-a-Half" to orbit much like the Atlas missile/LV.

[@caav56]

There was a fully-SSTO design of Pegasus, though, which kept the tanks and used them as a variable geometry airbrake for controlling the descent.

[@eddjordan2399]

Fantastic work dude. very talented.

[@minkshaming]

I love these videos!

[@k1dicarus]

Excellent as always

[@Infinite_Maelstrom]

me: \*still waiting for the guy with the old-fashioned accent to start explaining what's on-screen*

[@bennybooboobear3940]

By the way, that accent is a mid-Atlantic/trans-Atlantic accent :)

[@stephen_101]

You are one gifted cgi artist, thanks for sharing.

[@rwboa22]

Even has that '60s newsreel look to it.

[@FargoFX]

Quality animation on this channel 👍

[@Katniss218]

Everyone: Big Rocket Me: That's a nice custom cape model.

[@JG-mw7uy]

The last part caught me by surprise.

[@Cruiserfrank]

This is right out of the book by Kenneth Gatland and Phillip Bono FRONTIERS OF SPACE that I read from my local library in the late '60s/early '70s. The design (along with Robert Truax's "Sea Dragon," used in "FOR ALL MANKIND") was deemed feasable in the early/mid '60s, but NASA didn't want to do it. 500 tonnes to orbit in a single launch, and reusable. There was a passenger version called Pegasus and even a military transport called Ithacus. We could have been all over the Solar System by now. Hazegrayart, would you consider doing a video on Pegasus/Ithacus, too? That would be very cool.

[@HalNordmann]

A plug-nozzle aerospike and propellant cross-feed? That is how you know a Bono design.

[@armandolicon]

Very good animation, although some physics don’t seem quite right 👏🏻👏🏻👍🏻

[@sfsdroid3957]

Rombus mars mission animation Like

[@pegasusted2504]

The only issue with being this good is that lots of people probably think you didn't actually do anything and had just posted an old archive film you found :~)

[@SimplySpace]

Damn that's cool!

[@bennybooboobear3940]

Cant get over the fact that the side booster sep audio is from space shuttle!

[@g-gon8869]

Wow seems like a pretty neat concept thanks #hazegrayart for bringing us such interesting stuff

[@JFrazer4303]

Probably cross-feeding so that as tanks are dropped, everything that goes on is fully fueled, and the tank they carry up is probably full too.

[@brunogarciagomez3529]

Amazing

[@-johnny-deep-]

Lovely!

[@PhillipMorton]

Love your work Hazegrey. I'd like to see Buran docking with Mir2 or ISS please...

[@cookiekiller5526]

Saturn V in the background: Finally! A worthy opponent! Out battle will be legendarily!

[@lesliekerman4222]

1960 rocket concepts be like: - Weird shape, big diameter tank - Giant aerospike engine

[@rundownpear2601]

Philip Bono, the 60s Elon Musk who unfortunately did not get the same funding

[@dsdy1205]

He made the mistake of not already being a billionaire

[@HalNordmann]

I prefer him (slightly) to Elon, since he was a bit saner. And he also supported the national space program, which I like.

[@sandman1567]

superb

[@pontuswendt2486]

AMAZINGNES!!!

[@osvaldolima6261]

Fantástico

[@ImAFatCheezIt]

When you add a ton of mods and shaders to KSP:

[@adamhoxha8662]

We all think how awesome this would be if it existed but we would've taken if for granted like we do with 747's or the space shuttle

[@tiodrakul]

Interesting design

[@RCR72]

Epic intro 👌👌👌

[@davidstuckey9289]

Splendid work! May I make a request? The book "French Secret Projects 3" by J C Carbonel has come out with the most detailed collection of information and technical details to date of the SNECMA Trsnsporteur Sero-Spatail yet, the French flyback-booster shuttle combination that the company worked on fer a decade, and even longer after being absorbed into Aerospatiale. That would make a fascinating subject for your movies, especially the vertical launch version suggested.

[@shamilrzayev5879]

Amazing. I think would be interesting if you could make similar animations about ICBMs.

[@jimbodeek]

I saw this rocket on a video for Disney's old Mission to Mars attraction

[@crableg2128]

it looked like it exploded on launch lol

[@zachwilliams2597]

the fact that we've had knowledge of aerospike engines since the 60's and have literally never used them makes me upsetti.

[@raine8553]

Was cool idea

[@yulaviation3868]

Music kinda reminds me of interstellar

[@rolflandale2565]

All the vessel parts, require capabilites to safely arrive back to earth surface. To be labeled and use in the term "reusable."

[@ND-jv4lx]

Wow I like your videos

[@yulaviation3868]

Nice

[@Workerbee-zy5nx]

Vonbruan Saturn provided for size compairison.

[@BrokenLifeCycle]

It's kinda ingenious to use the aerospike engine as the heat shield of the rocket as it reenters because it's already designed to handle extreme temperatures on the ascent, but since SpaceX proved that you can relight an engine as it's screaming into the atmosphere, those parachutes and external landing engines are not really necessary anymore. In fact, the concept of using the rocket plume as a heat shield in itself solved a lot of problems with reusable vehicles outright. It's a bit sad to know that these old designs, while innovative, were rendered obsolete by just making the conventional method many orders of magnitude better.

[@Sir_Uncle_Ned]

I do like how you used the LZ1 treeline to really drive home just how big that booster is. It's a bizarre thing, does it have an aerospike and separate conventional engines, or can the aerospike nozzles pivot to become conventional engines?

[@Kevccordion]

Had to imagine the thunderbirds theme music as it launched...

[@alexandredevert4935]

It's art !!!

[@mohammadk3nt-horizon975]

Continue that Prosperity words!

[@jatigre1]

It just goes to show that if we really wanted, we could have done it. It was possible and the technology available.