Av Leak says SpaceShipOne has been modified to improve its stability

Has anyone read this article?

In an exclusive story, Av Leak claims that Rutan has modified his
spacecraft to improve its stability.

Burt may still make Dec 17th 2003 truely historic with a first private
sub-orbital flight.

http://www.spacefuture.com/journal/j...econd_fli ght

This article raised interesting questions. Why didn't Burt do a
spaceship like this 30 years ago? The only technology that wasn't
there for sure then was the mini-electronics for a super lightweight
guidance control and communication system.

Carbon-fiber snow skis were around in the mid seventies. I don't know
if nitrous oxide HTPB rocket motors were around back then. I don't
know of cruise missile jet engines were available back then.

Can anyone else list some technology or other barriers that made
private sub-orbital flight in the mid seventies impossible or highly
improbable?

Flammable ployester cabin carpeting and EMF interfereance fromt he 8-track
player?;-)

Tony Rusi wrote:
This article raised interesting questions. Why didn't Burt do a
spaceship like this 30 years ago? The only technology that wasn't
there for sure then was the mini-electronics for a super lightweight
guidance control and communication system.

The problem is mindset and worldview. In the mid 1970s space was
considered a job for governments and megacorporations. People only started
taking the idea of small independent groups building manned spacecraft as
a serious possibility in the 1990s or thereabouts (though there were
people even in the 1970s who were thinking about this, and even trying to
build hardware, IIRC). Once a few people started doing the math and
talking it up a critical mass began to form, leading directly to Rutan's
current effort. The whole point of the X-Prize is not to get somebody to
do a one-off: it's to change thinking. It there had been an X-Prize in
1975 it probably would have been won by 1985, possibly by Rutan himself.

Can anyone else list some technology or other barriers that made
private sub-orbital flight in the mid seventies impossible or highly
improbable?

Considering that by the mid seventies the basic technology for suborbital
flight was 30 years old, no. A V-2 knockoff was no more impossible then
than now, and fundraising might even have been slightly easier without the
additional 30 years of "space is hard" propaganda from NASA.

As always, IMO,
.....Andrew
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Andrew Case |
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(Tony Rusi) wrote in message
Carbon-fiber snow skis were around in the mid seventies. I don't know
if nitrous oxide HTPB rocket motors were around back then. I don't
know of cruise missile jet engines were available back then.

Can anyone else list some technology or other barriers that made
private sub-orbital flight in the mid seventies impossible or highly
improbable?

Well back then jet engines were heaver, composites were heaver and
still had matrix and lamination issues(to an extent they still do).
Don't underestimate the difference electronics makes either, not just
on the flight vehicle but also for affordable CFD simulations and the
like. Radio communication links are orders of magnitude cheaper. There
is a *lot* more infrastructure that is cheaper, logistics etc is
cheaper. Everything is a lighter and needs less power.... I could go
on.

It should be noted that none of these changes have been revolutions,
but just incremental improvements over time. This is one of the
biggest criticisms of the rocket industry, there really hasn't been
much incremental improvements. We still use 1960 technologies really
(ie no altitude compensation nozzles).

But one thing is for sure. Commercial rocket/space craft stuff is only
getting easier and cheaper (that not the same as easy and cheap). It
will never be "car" cheap but I believe it will get "airline" cheap.

Greg

(Tony Rusi) wrote in message . com...
Has anyone read this article?

In an exclusive story, Av Leak claims that Rutan has modified his
spacecraft to improve its stability.

Burt may still make Dec 17th 2003 truely historic with a first private
sub-orbital flight.


I wouldn't be surprised if he lights the rocket engine by then, but
flying to 100km in the next four weeks? Not a chance. Burt is taking
a sensible, incremental flight test plan, and there are still a lot of
questions to answer along the way.

John Carmack

Can anyone else list some technology or other barriers that made
private sub-orbital flight in the mid seventies impossible or highly
improbable?

Compare price, size and weight of a 1975 inertial platform with today's
GPS receiver.

Jan

Consider the number of practicing attorneys today, compared with the
1970's. Consider the mass of the Environmental Impact reports required
to fly on a suborbital mission today, compared with the 1970's.


"Jan C. Vorbrüggen" wrote in message ...
Can anyone else list some technology or other barriers that made
private sub-orbital flight in the mid seventies impossible or highly
improbable?

Compare price, size and weight of a 1975 inertial platform with today's
GPS receiver.

Jan

Consider the number of practicing attorneys today, compared with the
1970's. Consider the mass of the Environmental Impact reports required
to fly on a suborbital mission today, compared with the 1970's.


"Jan C. Vorbrüggen" wrote in message ...
Can anyone else list some technology or other barriers that made
private sub-orbital flight in the mid seventies impossible or highly
improbable?

Compare price, size and weight of a 1975 inertial platform with today's
GPS receiver.

Jan