We are developing the social individualist meta-context for the future. From the very serious to the extremely frivolous... lets see what is on the mind of the Samizdata people.
Samizdata, derived from Samizdat /n. - a system of clandestine publication of banned literature in the USSR [Russ.,= self-publishing house]
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SpaceShipTwo drop test successful As I noted yesterday, Scaled Composities carried out the SpaceShipTwo drop test. Rand Simberg linked to their video.
She really looks lovely in flight and the pilot really did grease it in. I can tell from the closeup of the touchdown that the pilot had a bit of crosswind component and it did not cause any problems at all.
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Who Are We? The Samizdata people are a bunch of sinister and heavily armed globalist illuminati who seek to infect the entire world with the values of personal liberty and several property. Amongst our many crimes is a sense of humour and the intermittent use of British spelling.
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Rather a space-ship than a rail-gun ship! I wonder what affect a continuously-operating railgun would have on plate tectonics? If it is not used often, then not much, but the temptation would be for continuous use, so wouldn’t that stretch the crust?
Good luck with SpaceshipTwo!
I always wonder why the “parawing” idea floated for Gemini was never followed through. It seems such an elegant way of gliding to a landing without the need to have wings that can withstand re-entry.
On a related note, am currently reading “Carrying the Fire” by Michael Collins – have read a lot of these and I think this is the best one.
Good news Dale.
I think nowadays you would use an oblong parachute or paraglider sail rather than a parawing. Sport parachutists use these very successfully.
OTOH there have been proposals for a Rogallo type parawing to return all the way from orbit (low wing loading makes for “fluffy” re-entry vehicle) and heat loads are manageable.
IIRC the cloth was silicone reinforced by titanium or stainless steel mesh. Take a look around http://www.astronautix.com
Here’s one of those oblong chutes in action.
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/campaigns/our_boys/3155392/SAS-chute-to-kill-in-sky-buggy.html