Posted on 12/13/2011 3:46:04 PM PST by mandaladon
Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen and aerospace pioneer Burt Rutan are building the world’s biggest plane to help launch cargo and astronauts into space, in the latest of several ventures fueled by technology tycoons clamoring to write America’s next chapter in spaceflight.
Their plans, unveiled Tuesday, call for a twin-fuselage aircraft with wings longer than a football field to carry a rocket high into the atmosphere and drop it, avoiding the need for a launch pad and the expense of additional rocket fuel.
Allen, who teamed up with Rutan in 2004 to send the first privately financed, manned spacecraft into space, said his new project would “keep America at the forefront of space exploration” and give a new generation of children something to dream about.
“We have plenty and many challenges ahead of us,” he said at a news conference.
Allen and Rutan join a field crowded with Silicon Valley veterans who grew up on “Star Trek” and now want to fill a void created with the retirement of NASA’s space shuttle. Several companies are competing to develop spacecraft to deliver cargo and astronauts to the International Space Station.
Allen bemoaned the fact that government-sponsored spaceflight is waning.
“When I was growing up, America’s space program was the symbol of aspiration,” he said. “For me, the fascination with space never ended. I never stopped dreaming what might be possible.”
Allen and Rutan last collaborated on the experimental SpaceShipOne, which was launched in the air from a special aircraft. It became the first privately financed, manned spacecraft to dash into space in 2004 and later won the $10 million Ansari X Prize for accomplishing the feat twice in two weeks.
(Excerpt) Read more at seattle.cbslocal.com ...
My father, (RIP) was fishing off the docks in Long Beach Harbor the day the “Spruce Goose” was taken out by Howard Hughes. My Grandfather worked for Hughes Aircraft, and his wife my Grandmother worked for Douglas and built DC-3’s all the way up to DC-10’s right before she retired.
I can’t imagine the changes they witnessed during their lifetimes. From sharecropping in Mississippi to machining parts for the moon landing.
I agree. If space can be a tourist destination, fine. Tourism is a huge industry. Developing it will spawn other industries.
As for space exploration, continue to use unmanned probes. They just discovered gypsum on Mars. If we eventually find fossils on Mars, and I think we will; mount a manned mission. Or at least return some samples.
The surface of Europa needs to be drilled. If there is liquid water below, it likely contains life. This can be done with unmanned probes.
When the moon landings ended in 1972, going there was becoming routine. The astronauts were like scientists in Antartica. Most of us will never go there, they may find some things that are interesting.
In the meantime, I have work to do.
I don’t think it is the parachute that is the expense, rather that the water landings the parachutes require. Spacex says the corrosion from the salt water landings for the space shuttle’s solid rocket boosters made refurbishing them as expensive as just scrapping and building new ones. That’s why the design is to have all components land back on land. If they could do that with a parachute, they probably would consider it.
The question is, is there enough paid cargo to make money?
Interestingly, some of the earliest speculations about Sputnik 1 is that it was launched by a similar airplane/launch rocket set-up. Things do have a way of coming full circle.
An an example, for hydrogen/oxygen fueled rockets, the oxygen accounts for 89% of the fuel weight. Using atmospheric oxygen is a BIG weight saving.
Hey, FRiend I appreciate your input; you get it.
Pioneers, in whatever they do, are America. They’re the best. That’s why I have faith in Americans to beat obuma to the ground and send him to the trash heap.
Semper fi, buddy. Best wishes to you and yours.
"The Earth is just too small and fragile a basket for the human race to keep all its eggs in" -- Robert Heinlein.
There will come a point where having colonies well away from Earth may be the only way to ensure the survival of the human race. Colonies which are just too far away for "illegal immigrants" to try to get to.
In statements made by SpaceX management at the time they released that design plan to the public, it would lower launch costs from the tens to hundreds of millions per launch down to hundreds of thousands per launch. It would be the most profitable launch system ever, becasue at that point the customer is just paying for fuel + depreciation on the rocket, like you do with an airline ticket. It could easily grab most of the world market share which is not driven by foreign national interests, plus open up whole new markets which are not feasible now.
Then why not have a parachute until many meters before landing, when the retro’s can fire? It still seems hard to pass up the freebie of a parachute, in terms of fuel use.
I don’t know the answer to that, other than it may be because the first stage is also going down range as well as up, and the landing phase would need to reverse that down range velocity.
Planely you suffer from a dearth of wine, not an excess! LOL
One goes to change that “point”.
A mere historical eyeblink ago, anything beyond the Atlantic horizon as viewed from Europe or Africa was not just seen as “not of value”, it was considered flat out terrifying.
Someplace for the stewardesses to hang out in case the autopilot needs inflating?
Thanks - for helping us understand the aerospace engineering facts.
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