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    Default British scientists invent 'Skylon' spaceplane that will take tourists into orbit...

    British scientists invent 'Skylon' spaceplane that will take tourists into orbit at five times the speed of sound


    A space aircraft that can take off from an ordinary airport runway before carrying tourists into orbit could be a reality with 10 years, according to British scientists.

    The 270ft Skylon plane will cost about £700m to build and will be able to carry 24 passengers.

    Built by British engineering firm Reaction Engines, the aircraft has no conventional external engines.

    Instead the Skylon will travel at five times the speed of sound using two internal engines that suck hydrogen and oxygen from the atmosphere to send it 18 miles above the ground – and out of Earth’s atmosphere.
    Each flight will cost around £6.3m, far less than the £97m it costs to send a rocket into space

    Richard Varvill, technical director and one of the founders of Reaction Engines, told the Engineer magazine: ’Access to space is extraordinarily expensive, yet there’s no law of physics that says it has to be that way,’ he said. ’We just need to prove it’s viable.’

    While in orbit propulsion and attitude control are provided using computer systems. Its developers say it could one day replace Nasa’s Space Shuttle to transport up to 12 tonnes of cargo and astronauts to the International Space Station.

    The Skylon’s innovative engine uses propulsion to reach the edge of the Earth’s atmosphere before switching to rocket power to get into orbit.

    The first phase of the engines uses air from the atmosphere to be cooled before being compressed into the engine and burned with hydrogen

    A second phase then kicks in which draws on liquid hydrogen and a small supply of liquid oxygen to propel the plane into space at up to Mach 25.

    Propulsion and attitude control are provided by the Orbital Manoeuvering System (OMS) or Reaction Control System (RCS).

    This uses a common propellant which is heavily insulated and cryogenically cooled.

    The system can remain operational on orbit up to 7 days.

    During re-entry, which occurs at an altitude between 90 to 60km the heat is radiated away and is stopped from entering the vehicle by layers of reflecting foil.

    Reaction Engines believes that there is a market for up to 70 of the Skylon spaceplanes worldwide.

    'The simple truth is that the Earth is part of a much bigger system,’ Varvill told The Engineer. ’The mineral resources of the solar system exceed that of the Earth by many orders of magnitude.

    'We’re talking a bit of science fiction now, but in theory there’s nothing that stops you going out and enjoying some of that… You can imagine a situation when some of our industrially important but polluting processes are done in space and the finished products are brought back down to Earth.’

    News of the Skylon comes as Boeing announced that it is to offer passengers the chance to fly into space on a craft it is developing for travel in low-Earth orbit.
    The aerospace firm said it reached an agreement with US-based Space Adventures to market passenger seats on commercial flights aboard Boeing's CST-100 space vehicle being developed for NASA.
    The spacecraft could carry seven people and fly in low-Earth orbit as soon as 2015, Boeing said. Potential customers could include private individuals and companies.
    Space Adventures said it had arranged for seven spaceflight participants to fly on eight missions to the International Space Station being built in space by the US and Russia.
    Pricing for the planned space flights has not been set yet.
    Guy Laliberte, founder of Canada's Cirque du Soleil, paid more than $35million to travel into space last year on a Russian spaceship from Kazakhstan.

    The U.S. space shuttle programme, which carries astronauts and supplies to the International Space Space, is being shut down next year.
    President Barack Obama's administration has launched an initiative to replace NASA-owned and operated launch services with commercial space taxis.
    Until a replacement vehicle is ready, the United States will be solely dependent on Russia to fly crews to the International Space Station, a $100 billion project involving 16 nations, which has been under construction 220 miles above Earth since 1998.
    Russia currently charges NASA about $5million per seat for a ride on its Soyuz spacecraft. The price goes up to $56million in 2013.

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    Default Re: British scientists invent 'Skylon' spaceplane that will take tourists into orbit.

    The Skylon spaceplane has all the earmarks of something interesting! A unique propulsion system, snazzy looks (see photo), 12 ton payload! And even an engineer's ultimate dream! A challenge no one can resist;
    "We're not quite sure how we'll get it all together, but it's do-able."

    Boeing's CST-100 however.... Yawn!!


    Same old re-combinant stuff. It looks like the same old "bullet on a rocket" They've worked out with the "usual suspects", NASA. In fact it just looks like a 7-passenger Apollo capsule.

    PS to both Boeing & NASA;
    If you plan on charging people mega-bucks for a 20 minute ride into space, here's a handy bit of marketing advice.... Windows!!

    Fred

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