If I were independently wealthy, and not in the middle of a startup, I'd love to do a demonstration of the idea using a remote controlled aircraft and an HPR...
Quote from: jongoff on 11/08/2011 01:33 amIf I were independently wealthy, and not in the middle of a startup, I'd love to do a demonstration of the idea using a remote controlled aircraft and an HPR...Thanks for the love Jon, as you know, I find myself in the same situation...
The Minuteman air launch in 1974 had an extracted weight of just over 85,000 lb including the pallet and associated parachutes. The missile itself weighed approximately 70,000 lb.
The air-launched Falcon 1e looked pretty neat; apparently with the right nozzle, you get a 60% improvement in mass to orbit. And, all it requires is a SCA 747, which are going for cheap these days.Kirk & Jon: I'm trying to mentally picture what sort of UAV you would use for the gamma manoeuver vehicle. A nice big delta-shaped flying wing (low wing loading, slow loaded landing speeds in an emergency, but still controllable at high speeds) would seem good. Having the rocket on top of the wing would help for the landing gear, but would the gamma trick still work?
http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.html?pid=39015When they talk about "infrastructure-free" cryogen production, what exactly does that mean? So you'd have equipment for oxygen liquefaction to make LOX while you're flying? Is this efficient? Is the mass penalty for this low?Do they only mean LOX, or do they mean LH2 also?