On Wed, 2003-05-28 at 22:00, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > For SSTO, I like the VTVL "flying fuel tanks" that come back with lots of > area per unit mass. Catastrophic early abort could be handled by a separable > capsule design that saves the crew/avionics/payload. With clever, creative > design, in a fully reusable vehicle, that could even double as part of the VL > system, without separation.
Having watched the Indy 500 this past weekend including the occasional 220+ mph (100+ m/s) crash, and then also considering the area to unit mass of SSTO vehicles and thus its terminal velocity (quick back of the envelope shows 110 m/s as reasonable), I am wondering if a VTVL vehicle with engine out on (crash) landing can be designed to practically disintegrate while the crew/passenger compartment remains intact and the passengers walk away. Dave -- David Masten <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> _______________________________________________ ERPS-list mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://lists.erps.org/mailman/listinfo/erps-list
