Rick Jones writes:

Makhno wrote:
This makes three assumptions, One is that we're air-breathing all
the way, which might not be too unreasonable because the hardest
part (where g is highest and the engine will be working its hardest)
has plenty of air. Even at high altititudes a super-charger or
similar technology could be applied to allow the engine to breath
the air, only switching to a liquid oxygen tank, or oxygen-less fuel
when truely in space.

Could you be better off stopping part way up to fill the O2 tanks
using those superchargers/whatever instead of lugging them up filled
from the surface? After all, you could just hang there on the tether
right?

Please note that the density of the atmosphere is already negligible
at a mere 150 km of altitude, less than 0.4% of the way to GSO,
whereas the gravitational force at that altitude is still essentially
the same as that at "sea level." It will =NOT= be possible to use
"superchargers" to get oxygen from the air --- LOX tanks will be needed.


-- Gordon D. Pusch

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