NASA 2011 budget and Ares-1

Jeff Findley wrote:


"OM" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 26 Jan 2010 17:39:08 -0500, "Greg D. Moore \(Strider\)"
wrote:

I think going that route is a mistake. At
this point we really need to start thinking about approaching spaceflight
like airplane flight.

...Greg, here's something to consider: What's the *major* difference
between a booster & capsule design, and an airplane? What can an
airplane do flight-wise that the conical capsule can't?

With few exceptions, aircraft typically have intact abort modes throughout
their entire flight envelope. Because of this, their test program can be
very incremental, starting with taxi tests and progressing to flights
which expand the flight envelope gradually.

That's not true, Jeff. I've flown the whole spectrum of fixed-wing
aircraft, and all of them have areas that you can reach in their flight
envelopes where recovering the aircraft or crew escape is not possible.

Expecially nervous-making were heavyweight hot-day takeoffs in the KC-135A
(The original model with water-injected J57 turbojets).
Loss of a water injection system (There were 2 systems on the airplane)
meant that you were going to hit the ground. At least when I was involved
with them, you'd hit the ground straight. - the original systems were
divided Left & Right - loss of the injection pumps, or a stuck valve on
those airplanes meant that you lost an engine's worth of thrust on that
side - without enough rudder authority to keep the pointy part forward.
The USAF put one into the Mass. Turnpike on takeoff from Westover AFB that
way in the late '50s. In the early '60s, the system was restrung so that
one system worked on both inboard engines, and the other on both outboards.
Crew escape on the airplane i entirely manual - you crawl to the crew egress
chute and drop out the lower hatch at the bottom of the lower deck.- of
course, if the landing gear is down, you will probably hit the left main
gear.
There is no abort mode or crew escape for any airliner suffering a
catastrophic failure in flight.

--
Pete Stickney
Failure is not an option
It comes bundled with the system.