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.
on or about

2 comments:

  1. Weer'd Beard5/19/2011 2:40 PM

    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.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Comrade Misfit5/19/2011 3:40 PM

    They took Dr. Hawkins up on one of the Vomit Comets, so they'll probably figure out a way to fly him on SS2

    ReplyDelete

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