4 ms·
TL;DR: Rocket plane: hold my beer A rocket-powered plane vaguely similar to the X-15 could cut that to about ½ to 1/3 the time. That would likely require a spa
by anonsivalley652 7y ago
TL;DR: Rocket plane: hold my beer
A rocket-powered plane vaguely similar to the X-15 could cut that to about ½ to 1/3 the time. That would likely require a space suit, an RCS, ablative coatings and exotic materials. Ejection seat?: good luck with that over mach 3.
- baq 7y agoa ballistic flight could do that distance in 30 minutes. musk wants to commercialize spacex's new big rocket - aptly named "starship" - in that way. we'll see if he can get over environmental concerns, the noise during takeoff will be life threatening.
- TeMPOraL 7y agoThe Kerbal player in me has a tentative solution: add a first stage for takeoff assists made of jet engines, not rocket engines. It would still be noisy, but perhaps not that noisy; after boosting it to some sensible altitude, the stage would detach and Starship's rockets would take over. The jet engine stage would of course be recoverable (parachutes, or it could fly itself back like a drone, because why not).
- pintxo 7y agoYou mean this [1]? [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpaceShipTwo https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpaceShipTwo