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How long before they resurrect the X-33 program?



 
 
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Old July 21st 03, 01:58 PM
Ultimate Buu
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Default How long before they resurrect the X-33 program?

I wonder how long it will take them to figure out that the OSP is a step
backwards and that without a specific plan to put all cargo on a) ELV's or
b) a new shuttle derived cargo vehicle will put the safety of Shuttle pilots
even more at risk (NASA engineers are already complaining that they aren't
getting enough hands-on experience to maintain proficiency) whilst actually
INCREASING the costs for maintaining a manned U.S. presence in space.

I was wondering: when will they figure out that SSTO is the only way forward
and that they need to revive the X-33 program, or start a new program based
on experience gained there. IMHO almost any TSTO is going to be almost just
as expensive to run as the Shuttle, if you take all costs into account
($100+ million per flight), so there's very little point in replacing the
Shuttle with OSP+ELV. Safety should be somewhat better, but only slightly
(they will still be using cryogenic, liquid fuelled engines and have a
similar reentry compared to the Shuttle).

Were there fundemantal flaws in the X-33 program which doomed it? If I
remember correctly the composite fuel tank problem was virtually resolved
when the program was scrapped. Also, I heard some rumours about instabillity
of the airframe during various flights stages (reentry).



 




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