On Tue, 7 Jan 2003 15:08:21 -0500 (EST), Andrew Case
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>Early plans for Kistler called for a TSTO using a dumb first stage to
>lob the second stage clear of the atmosphere (vertical trajectory, return
>to launch site for recovery). The second stage was a mass-optimized
>near-SSTO using LOX/H2. The virtue of this idea is that you don't
>need altitude compensation on the engines, and you don't need heavy
>landing gear, since the vehicle only supports its own weight while
>empty. In fact they also used tricks to get rid of the landing gear on
>landing, too (land on the heat sheild in a big net).
Yeah, the old "flying bedstead." And landing on a net, your abort
options are what, again? Dump fuel and pray? :-)
-R
--
"You haven't been lost until you've been lost at Mach 3."
-- Paul Crickmore
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