Re: Rutan spaceplane

> If I read the article correctly - there is a fair bit of hype - it is
> not a spaceplane as most people understand the word, namely that it
can
> reach orbit and stay there. It just can climb above the athmosphere
and
> drop back, like, say, the old X-15.
>
> Greetings
> Karl Heinz

You miss the entire point.  That is exactly what it does, but it is
PRIVATELY FUNDED, therefore it does so at a SMALL FRACTION OF THE COST
OF A
GOVERNMENT PROGRAM to do the samething.  This is a step to the future,
not
the future itself.  If they can put that manned spaceship into a
suborbital
position twice within two weeks, they will not only win the x-prize, but
will also have done something the X-15 did not, go suborbital in a
mostly
reusable vehicle (they will probably have to replace parts of the rocket
engine between flights), and enviromental control system that does not
require space suits.

If they can operate this vehicle cost effectively for suborbital
experiments, they may be able to scale it up to an orbital system. 
Eugene
Sanger had the right idea decades ago.	A two stage fully reusable
vehicle.
Why operate a rocket in the dense lower atmosphere?  Use a airplane to
climb
out of most of that.  Then use a rocket to go to orbit.

Here's the best link for info on White Knight and SpaceShip One:

http://www.scaled.com/projects/tierone/index.htm

Be sure to checkout the data sheets.

ias