Commercial suborbital spaceflight is clearly covered by this forum.
Quote from: docmordrid on 10/26/2014 02:15 pmCommercial suborbital spaceflight is clearly covered by this forum.Suborbital by powered vehicles and not balloons.
>Such a system has wide-ranging applications for; the study of the science of the stratosphere, development of means for spaceship crew egress, the study of dynamics of bodies at Mach 1, new high altitude aircraft suits, and setting of records for space diving, sailplaning and ballooning. >
Even if balloon flight isn't spaceflight, it does have the potential to be used for testing of equipment, and manned balloon flights could perhaps be used to man-rate some technologies by putting them in a near-space environment.
development of means for spaceship crew egress,
Quote from: sanman on 10/26/2014 04:25 pmEven if balloon flight isn't spaceflight, it does have the potential to be used for testing of equipment, and manned balloon flights could perhaps be used to man-rate some technologies by putting them in a near-space environment. Nothing that couldn't be done in a vacuum chamber which is cheaper and safer.
1. Vacuum chambers aren't the really real world. Even suborbital suit re-entries may have unexpected thermal effects to be tested, regardless if the occupant is wetware or an insteumented test dummy. 2. Sooner or later you have to test like you fly®
Karman line is an arbitrary distinction. What is the likelihood that the line between the atmosphere and the void(that doesn't really exist) just happens to be exactly 1/100th the distance between the equator and the north pole.
Quote from: docmordrid on 10/26/2014 04:36 pm1. Vacuum chambers aren't the really real world. Even suborbital suit re-entries may have unexpected thermal effects to be tested, regardless if the occupant is wetware or an insteumented test dummy. 2. Sooner or later you have to test like you fly®1. Neither are balloon flights2. and using balloon flights for testing orbital suits is quite the opposite of test like you fly.
Quote from: ncb1397 on 10/26/2014 02:27 pmKarman line is an arbitrary distinction. What is the likelihood that the line between the atmosphere and the void(that doesn't really exist) just happens to be exactly 1/100th the distance between the equator and the north pole.Kármán line is not arbitrary. And you could find it out in 15 seconds by checking Wikipedia.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%C3%A1rm%C3%A1n_line
Kármán line is not arbitrary. And you could find it out in 15 seconds by checking Wikipedia.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%C3%A1rm%C3%A1n_line