With recent sucessful testing of the revelutionary Sabre engine it seems that a final push for funding is required for the Skylon spaceplane project.
It also seems that it is being taken seriously this time:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-18784866 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-18784866)
Not seen this tech before.
Really interesting. Good find.
I'm still left wondering "what about re-enrty?" but that's me.
I would assume it would be along the same lines as the Virgin Galactic Spaceship2
This idea has been around for decades, 30 years + but only now does it seem that the tech has caught up with the dreams and finally is being pursued
So the Sabre engine seems to have got the ESA seal of approval after successful engine tests, so now come the big test......will it UK government backing and the required private finance to make the potential into reality?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20510112 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20510112)
Looks like they (the UK) have a new plane coming out soon :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
Possibly two if that article is correct, the hypersonic liner and a spaceplane too Syber.
Times are looking bright for the UK aviation industry if we don't follow historical procedure and screw it all up ;D
Assuming it does get built, it will prob be an ESA thing due to cost. But we'd still have the IP on the engine design. :thumbsup:
Here's hoping they can build a reusable space plane to go with the engine. The better a plane flies the worse it is at re-entry as far as I can tell. I realise it's difficult to build these things but rockets are sooo last century. :D
Latest Article on this project as it's been a bit quiet on the Skylon front:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-23332592 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-23332592)
more news
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-23590080 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-23590080)
I just found this rather good article on the brains behind Skylon and it's rather convoluted past:
http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2013-08/12/skylon-alan-bond (http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2013-08/12/skylon-alan-bond)
Great find DD1975 :thumbsup: :thumbsup: I love the concept of this , though to be honest the shape I'm not to found of.
The shape I think is born of necessity to be honest Syber, I'm not sure there is much alternative to the shape they have come up with.
In the article you note they mentioned that the previous project Hotol had a serious centre of gravity problem to to mounting the engines at the rear of the craft.
QuoteI'm not sure there is much alternative to the shape they have come up with.
The shape I agree is needed to be that way, But I feel it would look better if the rear wings where centered to the crafts circumference like the front ones instead of being offset towards the bottom.
At this stage it's merely a concept so don't be surprised if that changes.........Although It just occured to me that the Skylon looks quite a lot like the mach 6 airliner (Fireflash) that Gerry Anderson predicted in the Thunderbirds puppet show of the 1960's :o
http://thunderbirds.wikia.com/wiki/Fireflash (http://thunderbirds.wikia.com/wiki/Fireflash)
The only major difference I can see is the placement of engines on the tail!!!!
Gerry really was a genius and was really ahead of his time
I love the concept but have serious reservations about that shape making re-entry.
If it's only sub orbital, then it's not really a space plane. To my mind anyway.
There was a drawing board replacement for the shuttle that was more angular and flew better (than a brick with wings) but they couldn't get a tile to work at the temperatures it would create at the wing edges.
When coming back down from orbital heights, "angular" is more of a drawback than an asset. You don't necessarily want sharp edges that have the potential for generating more heat than the surface of the Sun, after all. :) Heat dissipates best in a "lateral" manner, and with sharp(ish) edges, there isn't a whole lot of lateral dissipation.
I took this from the Encyclopedia Atronautica:
The aeroshell formed the outer surface of the aeroplane and therefore had to withstand the local aerodynamic pressure loads and kinetic heating. The aeroshell was passively radiation cooled and during the ascent rose to a maximum of 855K at the bottom of the dive. During reentry the temperature was kept down to 1100K by dynamically controlling the trajectory via active feedback of measured skin temperatures. This was possible by virtue of the low ballistic coefficient and controllability of a lifting vehicle with active foreplanes. The aeroshell was airtight to prevent reentry gases leaking into and destroying the vehicle interior.
And this from the Wiki:
The currently proposed Skylon model C2 will be a physically large vehicle, with a length of 82 metres (269 ft) and a diameter of 6.3 metres (21 ft).[42] Because it will use a low-density fuel, liquid hydrogen, a great volume is needed to contain enough energy to reach orbit. The propellant is intended to be kept at low pressure to minimise stress; a vehicle that is both large and light has an advantage during atmospheric reentry compared to other vehicles due to a low ballistic coefficient.[43] Because of the low ballistic coefficient, Skylon would be slowed at higher altitudes where the air is thinner. As a result, the skin of the vehicle would only reach 1,100 Kelvin (K).[44] In contrast, the smaller Space Shuttle was heated to 2,000 K on its leading edge, and so employed an extremely heat-resistant but fragile silica thermal protection system. The Skylon design does not require such a system, instead opting for using a far thinner yet durable reinforced ceramic skin.[2] However, due to turbulent flow around the wings during re-entry, some parts of Skylon would need to be actively cooled.[41]
Very interesting.
Must keep reminding myself to check on the things I think I know. :o
I was questioning it too snowy, however i decided that as the guys who came up with it ARE rocket scientists that they must have some idea of what they were doing ;D
naaa!!!! there just winging it, and if it works - there praised - if not - here fired - lol just joking :P
Good article on Skylon here.
http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-27591432 (http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-27591432)
Disclaimer: Yes I know its BBC.com Data, sorry :LOL:
EDIT
It bounced me to this page
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-27591432 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-27591432)
Been very quiet on this front for a while, new update:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-43732035
Nice to see they are still working on this, does seem to be taking a while to get there but all good things come to those that wait :)
Only around 30 years or so data ;)
However when you also take this recent piece of news into account:
https://www.theengineer.co.uk/uk-spaceports-space/
Things seem to be slowly coming together