Damon Hill wrote in message . 132...
Markus Baur wrote in newsAKEb.146722
:

one thing that has not yet mentioned (at least i could not find any
mention of this) is the opportunity of using SSO as a manned sounding
rocket ..

it fills a gap betwenn current zero G planes, current sounding rockets
and actual satellites - offering much longer zero gee time then the
planes, larger payload then most sounding rockets at comaratively low
price with the chance to easily refly experiments - AND - to fly maned
experiments ..

i would guess a number of resaerch institutions and universites might
be very interested in this .. your opinion ?

Don't see why it couldn't be used as a launcher for a sounding rocket,
or a multistage light satellite launcher. The hybrid motor is pushing
a heavy mass to a pretty good altitude; how high would it go by itself
and a small payload?

I would not be surprised to see them try this, or perhaps it's their
real goal.

--Damon

You seem to be talking about an unmanned version of SS1. I would be
very suprised to see Rutan go along with this. He has been very
adamant in past interviews that the living, breathing, thinking pilot
is a key part of his designs. It probably would add a lot of
complexity to the vehicle to make it unmanned (then you'd have to
figure out unmanned flight, tailbraking, and landing by computer), and
it may even add weight. (SS1 isn't fly-by-wire.)

Tom Merkle