"SpaceShipTwo could be single stage to SUBorbit"
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From: Robert Clark on 11 May 2010 12:23 On May 10, 2:47 pm, Robert Clark <rgregorycl...(a)yahoo.com> wrote: > Interesting article here: > > SpaceShipTwo could be single stage to suborbit says ESA firm. > By Rob Coppinger > on April 29, 2010 4:24 PM > "Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo could be a single stage to suborbit > vehicle using liquid chemical propulsion according to independent > research carried out by a company that has been contracted by the > European Space Agency for suborbital and hypersonic transport > studies." > "... the UK firm came to the conclusion that the volume within which > SS2 carries its solid rocket motor and nitrous oxide supply could > equally hold a liquid chemical propulsion system capable of providing > enough thrust for long enough for a horizontal take-off and ascent to > 50,000ft and above without the need for WK2."http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/hyperbola/2010/04/spaceshiptwo-coul... > > If you also filled up the passenger compartment with fuel leaving only > a pilot's cabin could it even become orbital? > Another interesting article: Virgin Galactic unveils SpaceShipTwo; Plans open architecture spaceship. By Larry Dignan | January 23, 2008, 7:42am PST 'Our vision of White Knight 2 would be part of a much longer development program. Have open architecture like Linux to allow other people to develop new vehicles and revolutionize new industrial uses of space, said Will Whitehorn, president of Virgin Galactic, Virgins spaceline. "Whitehorn clarified the open architecture point a bit: He said that if interested parties come to Virgin and Scaled Composites they can use key points such as WhiteKnightTwos wing to build new aircraft. We will work with people that come to work with us to do new things with the WhiteKnightTwo. If people come to us well work with them. "Whitehorn added that interested parties are already in discussions about building off of the properties of WhiteKnightTwo, but wasnt going to name names. Overall, Virgin Galactic wasnt detailing technical details behind the spaceship effort." http://www.zdnet.com/blog/btl/virgin-galactic-unveils-spaceshiptwo-plans-open-architecture-spaceship/7678 If Virgin Galactic really is serious about this then I foresee passenger orbital flights proceeding quite apace! Bob Clark
From: Rick Jones on 11 May 2010 12:18 In sci.space.history Robert Clark <rgregoryclark(a)yahoo.com> wrote: > "Have open architecture like Linux to allow other people to develop > new vehicles and revolutionize new industrial uses of space," said > Will Whitehorn, president of Virgin Galactic, Virgin's spaceline. Linux is not only open, but *free* - no licensing fees. Can the same be said of WhiteKnightTwo? rick jones -- The glass is neither half-empty nor half-full. The glass has a leak. The real question is "Can it be patched?" these opinions are mine, all mine; HP might not want them anyway... :) feel free to post, OR email to rick.jones2 in hp.com but NOT BOTH...
From: Robert Clark on 11 May 2010 12:42 On May 10, 3:24 pm, Bob Myers <nospample...(a)address.invalid> wrote: > On 5/10/2010 12:47 PM, Robert Clark wrote: > > > If you also filled up the passenger compartment with fuel leaving only > > a pilot's cabin could it even become orbital? > > Even if it could, the next question would be how you'd plan on > DE-orbiting in a survivable manner... > > Bob M. True you would also have to add on the weight of thermal protection for reentry from orbital speeds. Bob Clark
From: Bob Myers on 11 May 2010 16:17 On 5/11/2010 6:57 AM, Jeff Findley wrote: > > Actually, ignorant can be fixed. Stupid can't. In most cases, it's easy > enough to explain that orbital velocity is so fast that you really do need a > huge amount of fuel and oxidizer to get into orbit. The X-15 example helps > somewhat too. The X-15 could fly high or fast, but could not do both on the > same mission. And even the X-15's high speed flights only achieved a small > fraction of orbital velocity. > It would seem we need an explanation akin to something Douglas Adams might have written - you know, comparable to "Space is big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind- bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist's, but that's just peanuts to space." However, I seem to recall that there was an idea, part of the old Air Force "Man In Space, Soonest" proposals, that did involve basically strapping on some additional boost to an X-15 and getting the thing into orbit, no? Not sure how they were planning on dealing with the "getting it back down" problem, either... Bob M.
From: Bob Myers on 11 May 2010 16:20
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> <html> <head> <meta content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1" http-equiv="Content-Type"> </head> <body bgcolor="#ffffff" text="#000000"> On 5/11/2010 10:42 AM, Robert Clark wrote: <blockquote cite="mid:93379052-2929-44b9-a1e8-4e79bdb1408d(a)s29g2000yqd.googlegroups.com" type="cite"> <pre wrap="">On May 10, 3:24 pm, Bob Myers <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:nospample...(a)address.invalid"><nospample...(a)address.invalid></a> wrote: </pre> <blockquote type="cite"> <pre wrap="">On 5/10/2010 12:47 PM, Robert Clark wrote: </pre> <blockquote type="cite"> <pre wrap="">If you also filled up the passenger compartment with fuel leaving only a pilot's cabin could it even become orbital? </pre> </blockquote> <pre wrap=""> Even if it could, the next question would be how you'd plan on DE-orbiting in a survivable manner... Bob M. </pre> </blockquote> <pre wrap=""> True you would also have to add on the weight of thermal protection for reentry from orbital speeds. </pre> </blockquote> <br> Or just add on another whole heapin' helpin' of fuel....;-) <br> <br> Damn, people, this IS the 21st century now, after all - aren't we supposed<br> to have, by now, the equivalent of the <i>Star Trek</i> shuttlecraft, that can basically<br> thumb its nose at gravity and come down as quickly or slowly as you want?<br> I'm even more disappointed that I can't yet go out and buy a Jetsons-type<br> Rosie the Robot or a flying car that folds up into a briefcase once I get to<br> work.<br> <br> Bob M.<br> <br> <br> Bob M.<br> <br> </body> </html> |