GIGANTIC Aviation Week story, Pentagon has been flying 2-stage orbital spaceplane throughout 1990s |
GIGANTIC Aviation Week story, Pentagon has been flying 2-stage orbital spaceplane throughout 1990s |
Guest_BruceMoomaw_* |
Mar 6 2006, 02:24 AM
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It may even have been manned:
http://www.aviationnow.com/avnow/news/chan...ws/030606p1.xml My God, what a story -- if it's even partially true. And, judging from this article, they are absolutely certain they have proof (along with proof that the thing, although it works, has recently been mothballed as not cost-effective). It's important to keep in mind, though, that this thing is NOT a workable prototype of the originally planned 2-stage winged Space Shuttle. The second stage -- the spaceplane that actually achieved orbit -- was relatively small and probably very inefficient as a cargo carrier; its advantage lay in allowing the US to get a military reconaissance (or weapons) satellite into orbit surreptitiously, with no advance warning of the launch going to other countries. Even at that, as I say, AW reports that the thing has been recently canned as not worth its (doubtless huge) black-budget expense. |
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Guest_BruceMoomaw_* |
Mar 18 2006, 03:51 AM
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Having finally read all of Dwayne Day's story, I note that he agrees not only with Jeffrey Bell's anti-Spaceplane arguments involving fuel-payload ratio and Russian detection of the exhaust plume, but also with Bell's arguments (which I wasn't qualified to judge) involving the nonexistence of aerospike jet engines and the high probability that the plane, had it flown in the daytime, would have been seen by planespotters. (Apparently that hobby is much more popular than I thought.) In fact, the only one of Bell's arguments that isn't mentioned and agreed with by Day is the one involving difficulties with boron-based fuel. I think this particular Av. Week story is not merely dead; it's really most sincerely dead (to quote the Munchkins' coroner).
And yes, Alex, I DID steal that joke (from "Science"). |
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Mar 18 2006, 01:36 PM
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#3
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2488 Joined: 17-April 05 From: Glasgow, Scotland, UK Member No.: 239 |
Having finally read all of Dwayne Day's story, I note that he agrees not only with Jeffrey Bell's anti-Spaceplane arguments involving fuel-payload ratio and Russian detection of the exhaust plume, but also with Bell's arguments (which I wasn't qualified to judge) involving the nonexistence of aerospike jet engines and the high probability that the plane, had it flown in the daytime, would have been seen by planespotters. (Apparently that hobby is much more popular than I thought.) In fact, the only one of Bell's arguments that isn't mentioned and agreed with by Day is the one involving difficulties with boron-based fuel. I think this particular Av. Week story is not merely dead; it's really most sincerely dead (to quote the Munchkins' coroner). And yes, Alex, I DID steal that joke (from "Science"). Bruce: Are you suggesting that it is an ex-story, that it is no more, has cast off this mortal coil and is generally pining for the fjords? If you think plane-spotters are bad, try spaceflight enthusiasts! Bob Shaw -------------------- Remember: Time Flies like the wind - but Fruit Flies like bananas!
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Mar 18 2006, 01:58 PM
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#4
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Member Group: Members Posts: 242 Joined: 21-December 04 Member No.: 127 |
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Guest_BruceMoomaw_* |
Mar 19 2006, 01:16 AM
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#5
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Guest_AlexBlackwell_* |
Mar 20 2006, 05:13 PM
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#6
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If it hadn't been nailed to Aviation Week's reputation, it would be pushin' up the daisies. AW&ST is also publishing a letter in the from D-DAY in the Correspondence section of the March 20, 2006, issue: QUOTE Correspondence
EASY ON THE MYTHOLOGY Aviation Week & Space Technology 03/20/2006, page 6 Dwayne A. Day Vienna, Va. In 1990, you published an article about a top secret U.S. Air Force hypersonic nuclear bomber, followed in 1991 with one about the top-secret "TR-3 Manta" reconnaissance plane. Neither airplane has emerged, and you have not retracted the stories. Now we have yet another story about a top-secret aircraft--the so-called "Blackstar"--by the same author. I found the articles on Blackstar short on facts, just some vague assertions made by anonymous or amateur sources, none of them actually connected to a real program, and some inconsistent speculation. If the U.S. did have a reusable spaceplane with aerospike engines, why did NASA waste all that effort on the X-33 in the 1990s? Your story has been circulating on the Internet for more than a decade with about the same level of detail and absence of facts. There is even an "SR-75 Penetrator" model kit. Stick to facts, not mythology. |
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