On Sat, 07 Feb 2004 18:32:53 -0700, Edward Rupp <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>I just finished a new book called 'Single Stage to Orbit'. The sub tile >is 'Politics, Space Technology, and the Quest for Reusable Rocketry.' >Written by Andrew J. Butrica. > >It was a very good book that gave some me some new insights into the >difficulties of getting such a project through a fickle Congress and >government. Most of the book is about the politics with only a modest >amount of technical information. The big thing to conclude from the >book is any practical reusable rocket launcher has to be very carefully >designed to keep ground operations to a minimum, as 'aircraft like' as >possible. Butrica won a Leopold Award for _To See the Unseen_, his history of radio astronomy, and he's been writing about space history for some years. One wonders, then, about his titular identification of RLVs as SSTOs. A book published in November 2003 should reflect the current consensus among hardware developers that SSTO, while technically interesting, is not on the road to commercial success. >Great read, I highly recommend for understanding some of the economics >of reusable rocketry, history and politics. Titular misgivings aside, this book is a great step forward. As Doug Jones pointed out yesterday, the big cheers at Space Access last year were for a business plan and a regulatory clarification. The industry is maturing. Hallelujah! -R -- LSO to pilot after 6th bolter, "You have to land here, son. This is where the food is." _______________________________________________ ERPS-list mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://lists.erps.org/mailman/listinfo/erps-list
