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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
 Posted - 07/06/2012 : 04:54:08
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I am mightily unimpressed with Scaled Composites' and Virgin Galactic's suborbital barely-a-spacecraft, Spaceship Two. Like the North American X-15 fifty years ago, the new craft will get likely to about 60 miles altitude, thus qualifying as being "in space" by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale's (arbitrary) definition of exceeding 100 kilometers altitude. But like the X-15, Spaceship Two will not even approach orbital velocity, which to my mind is the real key to space travel.
The X-15 few at about 4,000 mph. Spaceship Two will only reach about 2,800 mph. Orbital velocity for low earth orbit is around 17,400 mph. Essentially, Spaceship Two is a toy for rich, self-indulgent, wanna-be astronauts, willing to cough up $200,000 for a few minutes in "official" space.
Even the Scaled Composites/Virgin Galactic follow-up craft, Spaceship Three, is now planned as a mere suborbital plane, not in any real sense a practical spacecraft. Spaceship Two has the best promotion possible, but it's disappointing and underwhelming as a "space craft."
SpaceX, with its successful Dragon, now that impresses me for private space effort.
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“Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive. |
Edited by - HalfMooner on 07/06/2012 08:30:39
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BigPapaSmurf
SFN Die Hard
3192 Posts |
Posted - 07/06/2012 : 06:55:52 [Permalink]
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| I second the emotion! Orbital velocity should be required to label something a spacecraft. |
"...things I have neither seen nor experienced nor heard tell of from anybody else; things, what is more, that do not in fact exist and could not ever exist at all. So my readers must not believe a word I say." -Lucian on his book True History
"...They accept such things on faith alone, without any evidence. So if a fraudulent and cunning person who knows how to take advantage of a situation comes among them, he can make himself rich in a short time." -Lucian critical of early Christians c.166 AD From his book, De Morte Peregrini |
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Kil
Evil Skeptic
USA
13477 Posts |
Posted - 07/06/2012 : 07:48:35 [Permalink]
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Yup. SpaceX is kicking serious ass. In fact, at least for the near future, it's taken over as the best delivery craft the US has for getting large payloads into low orbit. The successful rendezvous with the international space station with actual cargo both to the station and cargo from the station back to earth was very impressive.
I featured SpaceX as an Evil Pick recently. |
Uncertainty may make you uncomfortable. Certainty makes you ridiculous.
Why not question something for a change?
Genetic Literacy Project |
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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
Posted - 07/06/2012 : 08:07:55 [Permalink]
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I really figured Burt Rutan's Scaled Composites would be a comer, when they started their space stuff some years back. They've been a disappointment. Now they are Richard Branson's major league publicity irritant to me.
But yeah, Kil, SpaceX is one to watch. They are already almost even with the Russians. That cargo capsule they docked with ISS basically is their passenger module. I think their philosophy of making all components in-house has much to do with their so-far near-perfect record. |
“Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive. |
| Edited by - HalfMooner on 07/06/2012 08:32:35 |
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Spaceship Two: X-15 redux
