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In article ,
Chad Irby writes: In article .net, "Steven P. McNicoll" wrote: "Chad Irby" wrote in message om... ...for a tiny fraction of the cost, and having the ability to repeat the feat in less than two weeks (which the government program didn't manage). So what's significant about it? If I have to explain to you the significance of the tech behind a reusable spaceplane, then why have you even bothered posting to this thread to begin with? There ain't a whole lot of tech, there, Chad - Burt's taking a very low-speed approach, (Rather Grand Fenwickian, in fact) with a low thrust, long burning rocket motor, and a fairly lightweight, high drag reentry vehicle. Peak speeds are around Mach 2 on ascent, and somewhere around Mach 1.9 on the re-entry. There's nothing particularly exotic about those speeds. Heating is low - around 100 Deg C, and an Aluminum or Composite airframe can deal with those temperatures and dynamic pressures without a whole lot of trickery. He's also designed a self-stabilizing shape, (In some ways not too different from the behavior of a badminton birdie) that doesn't need sophisticated systems, such as adaptive flight control systems or reaction controls, to set and hold its attitude. While it's a good design, it's not significant in advancing technology. It also can't be expanded much beyond the X-Prize requirements. You aren't going to see an orbital Spaceship !, or a Semi-Ballistic Spaceship 1 Hypersonic Transport. It's a very clever design very highly optimized to do only one thing - meet teh X-Prize requirements. -- Pete Stickney A strong conviction that something must be done is the parent of many bad measures. -- Daniel Webster |
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In article ,
Steve Hix writes: In article , (Peter Stickney) wrote: It's a very clever design very highly optimized to do only one thing - meet the X-Prize requirements. Sounds very like Rutan's M.O. throughout his career. Sure. And that's why he as often as not, succeeds. He specifies his objectives very carefully, and doesn't deviate at all from them if he can prevent it. And he knows his stuff, so his approaches to meet that specification are sound. Sometimew they don't catch on - the Beech/Raytheon Starship flew like a dream, but sold like a Lead Blimp. But more often than not, he gets it right. After all, it seems like Long-Ezes are buzzing around like dragonflies, while the Moller Skycars fly only in the Press Release. -- Pete Stickney A strong conviction that something must be done is the parent of many bad measures. -- Daniel Webster |
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