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SpaceShipOne Flight Test
Soft writes "Scaled Composites' entry for the X-Prize, the SpaceShipOne, has had a successful first (unpowered) flight test.
The spacecraft was dropped from the White Knight carrier aircraft at 47,000 ft (14 km) and 105 kt (194 km/h, 120 mph) and touched down after a 1.1-hour glide at Mojave airport.
Photos are available."
wouldn't the sink rate have more to do with aerodynamics than weight? And all other things being equal, wouldn't a heavier ship be expected to sink faster than an identically shaped but lighter one?
also from www.dictionary.com
joke: Something said or done to evoke laughter or amusement, especially an amusing story with a punch line.
Is it just me or are both those airplanes/spaceships ugly as hell?
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Off topic: Could someone get rid of that white dot in the ad banner at the top of the page it's driving me crazy!
Male life is expendable, female is not. So let the stupid males do risky stuff and get killed, and the smart ones can copulate with the women and advance the race by creating new life. Now if only women would stop seeing the risky males as attractive mates, and go for us quiet, non-risky types instead.
Um, where exactly are you going to keep the fuel to keep yourself travelling at "a couple of machs"? You'd have to make SpaceShip One about (loose guess) seven times its current size. I bet the carrier a/c won't be able to deal with that.
High speed atmospheric flight is obscenely expensive, fuel-wise.
Why yes, I AM a rocket scientist!
Sorry about the pessimism, but I lump consumer space flight in with finding a cure for cancer.
What, you mean the fact that they're both something that we've made great strides towards in the last 10 years, and both are extremely important to humanity? Good comparison!
...which then runs out of fuel. The rocket engine will not keep the airplane going at "a couple of machs" for any length of time.
I promise.
Why yes, I AM a rocket scientist!
Testoterone poisoning is responsible for quite a few male "accidental" deaths. That includes such things as car crashes, stupid stunts, golfing in thunderstorms and associated darwin-award winning behaviour.
Have you ever noticed that most "darwin award" winners are male?
I'm not. Duh. I do, however, know more about rocketry and aviation than most humans. I wouldn't call myself an expert on all things that fly, but I could explain to you in detail how to compute the fuel consumption for a rocket motor. I won't, though, because you're trolling me.
If you can develop a rocket engine that will drive you at "a couple of machs" for, say, two hours, and will fit in SS1's airframe, I'd wager you could make a very large amount of money.
Why yes, I AM a rocket scientist!