Thursday, May 19, 2011
SpaceShip Two
The "feather" is interesting to watch. SpaceShip Two has, as far as I can tell, a planned apogee of 70 miles, which puts it several miles above the now-official beginning of space (100 km or 62.14 miles).
By comparison, the X-15 reached 67 miles on one flight in 1963 and the Mercury-Redstone flights (Freedom 7 and Liberty Bell 7), which reached over 110 miles. I don't know whether the feather system will work with the heat loads of a higher flight. Apparently Bert Rutan doesn't believe that the feather mode will work for an orbiter.
I'll bet that Stephen Hawking is high on the passenger list for SS2.
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2 comments:
If he can safely make the flight in his condition I'd fly him for free just as a publicity stunt.
And to make a great scientist with a horrible disease smile as best he can in his condition.
They took Dr. Hawkins up on one of the Vomit Comets, so they'll probably figure out a way to fly him on SS2
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