DailyDirt: I'm Leavin' On A Space Plane, Don't Know When I'll Be Back Again….
from the urls-we-dig-up dept
NASA’s space shuttle program is winding down, but it seems like there’s some growing interest in going to space. SpaceShipOne won the $10 million Ansari X Prize in 2004, and even though it only touches the edge of space, it’s still a pretty remarkable achievement. But it’s about 6 years later, and trips to space aren’t exactly tickets you can buy on Orbitz (or Priceline or Expedia, etc). Here are a few interesting links on space travel and traveling in the future (not to the future).
- According to WikiLeaks, Turkey apparently tried to get a Turkish astronaut on the space shuttle — in exchange for buying some Boeing planes. Is having a national astronaut really that prestigious? International politics shouldn’t be like winning Civ and getting to Alpha Centauri…. [url]
- Orbital Sciences Corp has proposed a space plane to replace NASA’s shuttle for ferrying people and stuff to the ISS. Space plane versus capsule designs… I’d bet the capsules will win, but there’s no denying the coolness factor of a winged spaceship. [url]
- In 2013, Russia is going to start selling space tourism tickets again. A 10-day trip to space for over $35M… “We could buy our own ship for that! But who’s gonna fly it kid… you?” [url]
- NASA is also looking at some regular plane designs to make flying more efficient in 2025. Space is probably over-rated, anyway. [url]
Filed Under: iss, nasa, space shuttle, spaceshipone
Companies: boeing, orbital sciences corporation
Comments on “DailyDirt: I'm Leavin' On A Space Plane, Don't Know When I'll Be Back Again….”
Capsule AND Wings
“Space plane versus capsule designs… I’d bet the capsules will win, but there’s no denying the coolness factor of a winged spaceship.”
The advantage of a capsule is that you don’t have to protect wings during flight phases that don’t use wings, such as ascent, orbiting, reentry, etc., i.e. everything but the last bit of the return after reentry.
The advantage of wings is that you can guide the return.
My solution: Paragliding. Keep the paraglide chute stowed until after reentry, and then guide the return. The advantages of both.
Someday Perhaps...
It would be cool to go out and look back on that little blue pebble we all call home – that would be a sight. Sigh…I guess until then I have Google Earth.
Capsule AND Wings
I like the idea of a capsule design that has a paragliding chute… but I assume paragliding isn’t quite as versatile as actually having a solid wing.
Perhaps there’s a way to “catch” a capsule as it’s floating down — like a reverse WhiteKnight design from SpaceShipOne.
Winged Space Planes
Apparently the only reason the Shuttle has wings is to give it ?cross-range? capability?that is, it can reenter the atmosphere in one place and still have the ability to maneouvre during its glide onto a landing strip some distance away. This was done in order to get the support of the military, who might want to carry classified cargoes, that they didn?t want to bring down at any old landing strip.
In the end, this capability has never been used.
Muslims in space
Turkish astronauts on a space shuttle? Turkey would use them to spread Islam, tell all of the aliens to convert or die. Brilliant.
Capsule AND Wings
http://www.space.com/281-sky-capture-nasa-bring-genesis-earth.html