At 07:06 PM 15/10/2014, you wrote:
60:1 seems implausible given the aspect ratio of
the shuttle was about 1:1 or less.
It is plain wrong.
Are space ships, with wings a bad
idea? Possibly, given the experience with the
one that burned up on re-entry. Splashdown in
the ocean seems to be safer, based on experience.Â
That was just a very compromised design. The
wings worked OK but not when there is a large
hole in one from launch damage. They are also dead weight in space.
Splash down gives you a chance of drowning after
surviving re-entry and landing.
Have a look at Dragon V2.0 www.spacex.com
The Launch abort system is a pusher that stays
with the spacecraft all the way. If you don't
need it on launch it gives lots of delta v for
use for orbital manouvering if desired but the
really smart thing is to use that fuel to simply
land on land just like Neil Armstrong and Buzz
Aldrin did in the Sea of Tranquillity in LM5 (aka
"Eagle" - first ship ever and forever to carry
humans to land on another world). On Earth, if
the descent engines don't work, then you can use
the parachutes. The terminal velocity of a Dragon
in the lower atmosphere is well subsonic so it doesn't take all that much fuel.
The people at SpaceX are actually testing landing
the first stage under power back at the launch
pad or on a barge at sea for re-use. They've
actually proved they can re-enter the booster and
soft land it in the ocean as well as flying
supply missions the the ISS. They aren't getting
much coverage in the MSM but are making
government space and old space companies look incompetent.
Mike
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