Airforce has had a 2STO spaceplane system for the last 15 years, according to Avleak, discuss?

http://www.aviationweek.com/avnow/ne...s/030606p1.xml

"D. Orbitt" wrote in
oups.com:

http://www.aviationweek.com/avnow/ne....jsp?id=news/0
30606p1.xml

Late to the party, are we?

It's being discussed in another thread; questions a it is real? if so,
how well did it really work? and why was it shelved? could we use it for
civilian spaceflight/ISS support, etc?

Proof will depend on hard evidence and admissions/revelations from folks
who are extremely reluctant to talk about anything.

--Damon

D. Orbitt wrote:
http://www.aviationweek.com/avnow/ne...s/030606p1.xml


Boeing was granted a patent on Feb. 7, 1989 for a:

" Horizontal-takeoff transatmospheric launch system "

Patent Number 4,802,639

http://patimg1.uspto.gov/.piw?Docid=...y=34445BC4AA63

Click on the link. Click on "Drawings". There are a series of
line drawings showing a larger delta winged carrier aircraft and a
smaller delta winged orbiter aircraft.

-Rusty

Rusty wrote:
D. Orbitt wrote:
http://www.aviationweek.com/avnow/ne...s/030606p1.xml


Boeing was granted a patent on Feb. 7, 1989 for a:

" Horizontal-takeoff transatmospheric launch system "

Patent Number 4,802,639

http://patimg1.uspto.gov/.piw?Docid=...y=34445BC4AA63

Click on the link. Click on "Drawings". There are a series of
line drawings showing a larger delta winged carrier aircraft and a
smaller delta winged orbiter aircraft.


Thanks for the lonk. I followed the "referenced by" links up, then the
prior art links down, then some "Referenced by" links that came to
another Boeing patent: Patent 6,666,409, 2004.

It's Vertical Takeoff, Horizontal Land of both mothership and 2nd
stage.

Looking at who referenced that patent I see somebody named Buzz Aldrin
received a patent # 6,827,313 in 2004.

He shows a number of variations. Basically a MIRV, one illustration
pictures 6 crew craft being launched at once. His descriptions vary
from Two-Stage-To-Orbit (not counting multiple crew modules launched
simultaneously as each one a stage -- they are seperate powered
payloads) to several stages. Re-entry is lifting bodies, parachutes and
airbags.

In article .com,
Rusty wrote:
Boeing was granted a patent on Feb. 7, 1989 for a:
" Horizontal-takeoff transatmospheric launch system "

Boeing has been interested in such things for a long time, and proposes
them (that is, proposes to build them using someone else's money) at every
opportunity.
--
spsystems.net is temporarily off the air; | Henry Spencer
mail to henry at zoo.utoronto.ca instead. |

Why on Earth launch each crew member in separate capsules ?

You would lose the advantage of having the pilot concentrate on the
flying, and the other astronauts tend any experiments.

And any EVA would be without any help from the other astronauts.

Regards

Carsten Nielsen
Denmark