1 00:00:04,120 --> 00:00:07,160 Speaker 1: Get in touch with technology with tech Stuff from how 2 00:00:07,200 --> 00:00:13,960 Speaker 1: stuff works dot com. Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. 3 00:00:13,960 --> 00:00:17,400 Speaker 1: I'm your host, Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer with 4 00:00:17,400 --> 00:00:21,240 Speaker 1: how Stuff Works in love all Things tech and tech Stuff. 5 00:00:21,280 --> 00:00:23,919 Speaker 1: Listener Ivan had asked me in the last episode to 6 00:00:23,960 --> 00:00:26,079 Speaker 1: do a show about space planes. As it turns out, 7 00:00:26,079 --> 00:00:29,160 Speaker 1: there was a bit more to talk about to fill 8 00:00:29,240 --> 00:00:32,120 Speaker 1: up just a single episode. So here is the part 9 00:00:32,280 --> 00:00:35,400 Speaker 1: two to this. UH. In that last episode, I covered 10 00:00:35,440 --> 00:00:38,400 Speaker 1: what a space plane is in general and gave a 11 00:00:38,600 --> 00:00:41,760 Speaker 1: history of some of the important developments and aviation that 12 00:00:41,880 --> 00:00:45,120 Speaker 1: led to the deployment of the Space Shuttle, which was 13 00:00:45,159 --> 00:00:50,040 Speaker 1: the first practical implementation of space plane technology. UH. There 14 00:00:50,040 --> 00:00:52,920 Speaker 1: were space planes before the Space Shuttle, to be clear, 15 00:00:53,200 --> 00:00:57,000 Speaker 1: but all of those were meant as test vehicles, experimental 16 00:00:57,080 --> 00:01:00,960 Speaker 1: prototype vehicles that were meant to expand our understanding of 17 00:01:01,000 --> 00:01:04,479 Speaker 1: engineering and strategies in order to create a working space 18 00:01:04,520 --> 00:01:08,200 Speaker 1: plane that would have applications beyond just research and development 19 00:01:08,200 --> 00:01:12,480 Speaker 1: and aviation, as in, uh, deploying satellites, for example, or 20 00:01:12,600 --> 00:01:16,160 Speaker 1: taking crew to and from outer space. And so now 21 00:01:16,200 --> 00:01:18,800 Speaker 1: we're going to pick up in the early nineteen eighties 22 00:01:18,840 --> 00:01:23,760 Speaker 1: after the space Shuttle program had UH launched, and talk 23 00:01:23,840 --> 00:01:27,160 Speaker 1: about some of the other space planes that have either 24 00:01:27,280 --> 00:01:29,399 Speaker 1: been developed or proposed. And there's gonna be a lot 25 00:01:29,400 --> 00:01:32,360 Speaker 1: of jumping around in time on this, because, as I've 26 00:01:32,400 --> 00:01:37,559 Speaker 1: mentioned in previous episodes, the way space exploration and space 27 00:01:37,600 --> 00:01:43,120 Speaker 1: programs have evolved over time is messy. It's not a 28 00:01:43,200 --> 00:01:48,320 Speaker 1: simple in you know, in year X it started, and 29 00:01:48,360 --> 00:01:51,040 Speaker 1: then that went on for ten years, and then this 30 00:01:51,080 --> 00:01:54,800 Speaker 1: other project started. You have a lot of overlapping timelines. 31 00:01:55,160 --> 00:01:57,960 Speaker 1: And so sometimes that means that if you were to 32 00:01:58,000 --> 00:02:02,640 Speaker 1: just look at launches, like when a test vehicle launched 33 00:02:02,680 --> 00:02:05,600 Speaker 1: for the first time, it would look like a more 34 00:02:05,720 --> 00:02:07,960 Speaker 1: linear approach, But in fact a lot of these things 35 00:02:08,000 --> 00:02:11,799 Speaker 1: were in development at around the same time. So with 36 00:02:11,840 --> 00:02:15,919 Speaker 1: that said, in nineteen eighty two, the then Soviet Union 37 00:02:16,360 --> 00:02:19,840 Speaker 1: began test flights of a new space plane design, an 38 00:02:19,919 --> 00:02:23,920 Speaker 1: unmanned space plane called the Bore four, the b O 39 00:02:24,280 --> 00:02:27,280 Speaker 1: R four. That b O R stands for something in 40 00:02:27,360 --> 00:02:29,400 Speaker 1: Russian that is so complicated. I'm not going to try 41 00:02:29,400 --> 00:02:31,560 Speaker 1: and say it because I will dislocate my jaw. I 42 00:02:31,639 --> 00:02:37,280 Speaker 1: am that bad at all languages, including English. Anyway. This 43 00:02:37,360 --> 00:02:40,119 Speaker 1: was the culmination of nearly a decade of work. When 44 00:02:40,120 --> 00:02:44,160 Speaker 1: the Soviet space program really began serious research and development 45 00:02:44,160 --> 00:02:47,600 Speaker 1: on space plane design in the nineteen seventies. The ultimate 46 00:02:47,639 --> 00:02:50,720 Speaker 1: goal was to create a space plane called the Spiral 47 00:02:50,880 --> 00:02:53,760 Speaker 1: fifty fifty, and that was a project that actually dated 48 00:02:53,800 --> 00:02:57,240 Speaker 1: back even further in the Soviet space program. It first 49 00:02:57,320 --> 00:03:01,720 Speaker 1: got started in the nineteen sixties. These two concepts are 50 00:03:01,800 --> 00:03:06,000 Speaker 1: closely tied together, uh the Boar four and the Spiral 51 00:03:06,080 --> 00:03:10,040 Speaker 1: fifty fifty. So let's start with Spiral fifty because that's 52 00:03:10,080 --> 00:03:14,240 Speaker 1: what would ultimately give way to the Boar four. And 53 00:03:14,280 --> 00:03:17,240 Speaker 1: while the spiral was a concept, the Boar four was 54 00:03:17,480 --> 00:03:23,959 Speaker 1: actually constructed, So the spiral fifty concept was incredibly ambitious. 55 00:03:24,360 --> 00:03:26,440 Speaker 1: The goal was to create an aircraft that could take 56 00:03:26,440 --> 00:03:29,560 Speaker 1: off like a conventional jet, So in other words, it 57 00:03:29,560 --> 00:03:33,200 Speaker 1: would launch from a horizontal position off some sort of 58 00:03:33,240 --> 00:03:37,800 Speaker 1: takeoff surface like a runway. Then it would travel up 59 00:03:37,840 --> 00:03:43,800 Speaker 1: into air and continue to ascend until it reached outer space. 60 00:03:44,680 --> 00:03:48,200 Speaker 1: Not just above the carm online at a hundred kilometers 61 00:03:48,240 --> 00:03:51,040 Speaker 1: that's the dividing line between the Earth's atmosphere and what 62 00:03:51,080 --> 00:03:54,440 Speaker 1: we considered to be space, but even beyond that, all 63 00:03:54,480 --> 00:03:58,320 Speaker 1: the way out into orbit. This vehicle was intended to 64 00:03:58,400 --> 00:04:02,240 Speaker 1: bring supplies and crew two from space station's orbiting Earth, 65 00:04:02,680 --> 00:04:05,000 Speaker 1: and then it would return to Earth at the end 66 00:04:05,040 --> 00:04:08,600 Speaker 1: of its mission and land again like a conventional aircraft. 67 00:04:08,800 --> 00:04:11,680 Speaker 1: And as you can imagine, this would mean creating a 68 00:04:11,760 --> 00:04:15,560 Speaker 1: truly innovative system because the stuff that lets you fly 69 00:04:15,640 --> 00:04:19,040 Speaker 1: around in Earth's atmosphere doesn't work so great in outer space. 70 00:04:20,080 --> 00:04:23,400 Speaker 1: The concept included a pair of expendable rocket stages which 71 00:04:23,400 --> 00:04:25,919 Speaker 1: would be necessary to push the vehicle out into space 72 00:04:25,920 --> 00:04:29,600 Speaker 1: beyond the atmosphere. But within the atmosphere there would be 73 00:04:29,640 --> 00:04:33,560 Speaker 1: an air breathing hypersonic booster that would provide the propulsion 74 00:04:34,279 --> 00:04:36,760 Speaker 1: to get the aircraft to those very high altitudes before 75 00:04:37,120 --> 00:04:42,200 Speaker 1: having to depend upon other rocket engines. This is a 76 00:04:42,200 --> 00:04:44,760 Speaker 1: good moment to talk about why you would want or 77 00:04:45,080 --> 00:04:48,400 Speaker 1: need an air breathing rocket in the first place, because 78 00:04:49,480 --> 00:04:52,479 Speaker 1: we have a long history of using rockets that have 79 00:04:53,040 --> 00:04:55,279 Speaker 1: oxidizers attached to them. Why would you go with a 80 00:04:55,279 --> 00:04:59,600 Speaker 1: different design. Well, first of all, let's talk about oxidizers 81 00:04:59,600 --> 00:05:01,720 Speaker 1: in the first pace. For combustion to happen, you have 82 00:05:01,839 --> 00:05:04,840 Speaker 1: to have three things. These are the the three things 83 00:05:04,839 --> 00:05:07,240 Speaker 1: that make up the triangle for fire. You have to 84 00:05:07,279 --> 00:05:10,120 Speaker 1: have heat, you have to have fuel something to burn, 85 00:05:10,279 --> 00:05:14,120 Speaker 1: and you have to have an oxidizer. Not surprisingly due 86 00:05:14,200 --> 00:05:18,400 Speaker 1: to the names oxygen is an oxidizer a very common 87 00:05:18,440 --> 00:05:21,200 Speaker 1: one here on Earth. Stuff can burn on Earth because 88 00:05:21,240 --> 00:05:25,440 Speaker 1: we have oxygen that facilitates that process. But in space 89 00:05:26,040 --> 00:05:30,280 Speaker 1: there's a distinct shortage of oxygen, so without an oxidizer, 90 00:05:30,680 --> 00:05:34,080 Speaker 1: flames would die out and combustion would stop. Is the 91 00:05:34,120 --> 00:05:35,920 Speaker 1: same thing as if you were to light a candle 92 00:05:36,400 --> 00:05:39,880 Speaker 1: and then cover that candle with a clear glass bowl. 93 00:05:40,600 --> 00:05:42,680 Speaker 1: You would see that the candle's flame would start to 94 00:05:42,760 --> 00:05:45,400 Speaker 1: flicker as it was using up all the oxygen, and 95 00:05:45,400 --> 00:05:47,920 Speaker 1: then it would ultimately sputter out. The same thing would 96 00:05:47,960 --> 00:05:52,320 Speaker 1: happen with rocket engines unless we carried an oxidizer in 97 00:05:52,360 --> 00:05:55,440 Speaker 1: addition to the fuel we plan on burning. But we 98 00:05:55,520 --> 00:05:58,800 Speaker 1: also know that getting into space requires a very careful 99 00:05:58,839 --> 00:06:03,320 Speaker 1: management of weight versus thrust. You want to minimize the 100 00:06:03,360 --> 00:06:06,560 Speaker 1: weight as much as you can to make efficient use 101 00:06:06,560 --> 00:06:10,040 Speaker 1: of fuel. The heavier the weight of the payload, whatever 102 00:06:10,080 --> 00:06:12,760 Speaker 1: it is you're sending out into space, the more fuel 103 00:06:12,839 --> 00:06:15,040 Speaker 1: you're going to need, and the more oxidizer you're going 104 00:06:15,080 --> 00:06:17,760 Speaker 1: to need in order to generate the thrust necessary to 105 00:06:17,839 --> 00:06:21,599 Speaker 1: put that mass into orbit, and it turns out that 106 00:06:21,680 --> 00:06:26,560 Speaker 1: the oxidizer component in rocket engines weighs a lot. This 107 00:06:26,680 --> 00:06:30,120 Speaker 1: is easily shown through an example. So we're gonna look 108 00:06:30,160 --> 00:06:33,800 Speaker 1: at the Space Shuttle to explain what we're talking about here. 109 00:06:33,960 --> 00:06:37,560 Speaker 1: If you have an empty Space Shuttle, it's the spacecraft, 110 00:06:37,600 --> 00:06:39,920 Speaker 1: it doesn't have any payload in it. It would weigh 111 00:06:39,920 --> 00:06:43,039 Speaker 1: in at a hundred sixty five thousand pounds or about 112 00:06:43,080 --> 00:06:48,040 Speaker 1: seventy five thousand kilograms. The two solid fuel booster rockets 113 00:06:48,080 --> 00:06:50,080 Speaker 1: that are would be on either side of the Space 114 00:06:50,080 --> 00:06:52,599 Speaker 1: Shuttle when it was on the launch pad would each 115 00:06:52,640 --> 00:06:57,520 Speaker 1: way one eighty five thousand pounds or eighty four thousand kilograms. 116 00:06:58,200 --> 00:07:01,880 Speaker 1: The giant external fuel tank if it were completely empty 117 00:07:01,880 --> 00:07:05,080 Speaker 1: of fuel, just the fuel tank by itself, that's the 118 00:07:05,240 --> 00:07:07,720 Speaker 1: part that's in the center between those two big booster 119 00:07:07,839 --> 00:07:12,280 Speaker 1: rockets that weighed seventy eight thousand, one hundred pounds or 120 00:07:12,320 --> 00:07:16,320 Speaker 1: about thirty five thousand kilograms. So collectively, all of those 121 00:07:16,360 --> 00:07:21,400 Speaker 1: components empty space shuttle, empty fuel tank, two solid fuel 122 00:07:21,560 --> 00:07:26,360 Speaker 1: rocket boosters weighed six hundred thousand pounds. That's two d 123 00:07:26,520 --> 00:07:31,080 Speaker 1: seventy eight thousand kilograms that's without fuel and without oxidizer. 124 00:07:31,680 --> 00:07:34,840 Speaker 1: The oxidizer, which for the Space Shuttle was a hundred 125 00:07:34,920 --> 00:07:39,240 Speaker 1: forty three thousand gallons or five hundred forty one thousand 126 00:07:39,400 --> 00:07:45,440 Speaker 1: liters of liquid oxygen, weighed in at a staggering one 127 00:07:45,560 --> 00:07:50,080 Speaker 1: point three five nine million pounds or six hundred sixteen 128 00:07:50,080 --> 00:07:54,920 Speaker 1: thousand kilograms, So, in other words, the oxidizer weighed more 129 00:07:55,000 --> 00:07:59,560 Speaker 1: than twice as much as the Space Shuttle, the rocket boosters, 130 00:08:00,000 --> 00:08:04,120 Speaker 1: and the external tank combined. So the most most of 131 00:08:04,160 --> 00:08:08,040 Speaker 1: your weight is coming not from the materials, but from 132 00:08:08,080 --> 00:08:12,640 Speaker 1: the fuel and the oxidizer that makes up the vast 133 00:08:12,720 --> 00:08:14,960 Speaker 1: majority of the weight that you're trying to send up there. 134 00:08:15,440 --> 00:08:19,080 Speaker 1: A hypersonic air breathing rocket would use the oxygen in 135 00:08:19,120 --> 00:08:23,080 Speaker 1: the atmosphere as the oxidizer, which means again it would 136 00:08:23,080 --> 00:08:25,080 Speaker 1: only work as long as there were enough oxygen in 137 00:08:25,080 --> 00:08:28,600 Speaker 1: the environment to feed the rocket. However, it would remove 138 00:08:28,760 --> 00:08:32,840 Speaker 1: the necessity to carry so much fuel and oxidizer on board, 139 00:08:33,240 --> 00:08:37,080 Speaker 1: drastically reducing the weight and by extension, the cost of 140 00:08:37,120 --> 00:08:39,920 Speaker 1: the launch vehicle. Because if you don't have to put 141 00:08:39,960 --> 00:08:41,640 Speaker 1: in as much fuel an oxidizer, you don't have to 142 00:08:41,640 --> 00:08:45,720 Speaker 1: spend as much money per launch. So it was a 143 00:08:45,760 --> 00:08:51,960 Speaker 1: way of making the flight more efficient, less costly, less difficult, 144 00:08:52,040 --> 00:08:54,760 Speaker 1: less challenging in the long run, if you're talking about 145 00:08:54,880 --> 00:08:58,480 Speaker 1: just figuring out how much thrust you need to uh 146 00:08:58,520 --> 00:09:02,240 Speaker 1: to propel that much weight into the into space. An 147 00:09:02,280 --> 00:09:05,160 Speaker 1: air breathing rocket also known as a rocket based combined 148 00:09:05,360 --> 00:09:09,319 Speaker 1: cycle engine, works on a principle not that different from 149 00:09:09,360 --> 00:09:12,760 Speaker 1: a conventional jet engine, which means now I get to 150 00:09:12,800 --> 00:09:15,640 Speaker 1: talk about how jet engines work. This is how I 151 00:09:15,679 --> 00:09:18,920 Speaker 1: sneak eighty different tech topics into a single episode. An 152 00:09:18,960 --> 00:09:22,120 Speaker 1: I a stinker. Okay, So a jet engine is a 153 00:09:22,120 --> 00:09:26,200 Speaker 1: type of gas turbine engine. Gas turbine engines have a 154 00:09:26,320 --> 00:09:30,760 Speaker 1: rotating component called the turbine, which you should be familiar with. 155 00:09:30,800 --> 00:09:33,040 Speaker 1: This is the same sort of component used in various 156 00:09:33,080 --> 00:09:37,280 Speaker 1: power facilities, like a steam turbine or a wind turbine, 157 00:09:37,480 --> 00:09:41,240 Speaker 1: and like those turbines, the gas turbine engine turbines are 158 00:09:41,360 --> 00:09:44,920 Speaker 1: spun by a fluid. Right, for steam turbines, you have 159 00:09:45,320 --> 00:09:50,520 Speaker 1: steam passing through this this fan blade turbine system which 160 00:09:50,559 --> 00:09:54,240 Speaker 1: causes the rotation, but in this case the fluid is 161 00:09:54,240 --> 00:09:58,880 Speaker 1: pressurized gas that's created by burning fuel, which then causes 162 00:09:58,920 --> 00:10:03,600 Speaker 1: air to expand rapidly and then forcing that expanding air 163 00:10:03,760 --> 00:10:07,960 Speaker 1: through the turbine. The turbines will spend at incredible speeds, 164 00:10:08,440 --> 00:10:11,600 Speaker 1: which generates a lot of heat in the process. That 165 00:10:11,679 --> 00:10:15,360 Speaker 1: actually is a limiting factor. You cannot have a regular 166 00:10:15,440 --> 00:10:19,080 Speaker 1: jet engine operate beyond a certain point before you get 167 00:10:19,120 --> 00:10:23,080 Speaker 1: into a dangerous situation because it's generating so much heat 168 00:10:23,120 --> 00:10:25,840 Speaker 1: that components will either start to melt or they'll start 169 00:10:25,880 --> 00:10:29,960 Speaker 1: to break down just from the incredible stress, the mechanical 170 00:10:30,040 --> 00:10:32,920 Speaker 1: stress that it's under. Now, there are three main parts 171 00:10:33,360 --> 00:10:36,880 Speaker 1: of your conventional jet engine. You have a compressor, which, 172 00:10:36,920 --> 00:10:40,280 Speaker 1: as the name suggests, compresses air to increase the pressure. 173 00:10:40,600 --> 00:10:44,000 Speaker 1: This usually comes in the form of sort of this UH, 174 00:10:44,080 --> 00:10:49,240 Speaker 1: this bladed design and UH. It is typically powered by 175 00:10:49,280 --> 00:10:52,400 Speaker 1: the spinning of the turbine itself. There's a chamber called 176 00:10:52,440 --> 00:10:56,160 Speaker 1: the combustion area, which, as the name would suggest, is 177 00:10:56,200 --> 00:11:00,400 Speaker 1: where fuel gets added to the incoming compressed air and 178 00:11:00,440 --> 00:11:04,520 Speaker 1: then is burned. It's ignited, which causes that compressed air 179 00:11:04,559 --> 00:11:08,000 Speaker 1: to expand and become a high velocity gas. And then 180 00:11:08,040 --> 00:11:11,280 Speaker 1: you have the turbine which extracts that energy coming out 181 00:11:11,320 --> 00:11:13,679 Speaker 1: of that gas, allowing the gas to flow through the 182 00:11:13,679 --> 00:11:18,640 Speaker 1: turbine spinning it and UH that's where you generate your 183 00:11:18,679 --> 00:11:21,360 Speaker 1: your energy or your generate your power, I should say. 184 00:11:21,640 --> 00:11:25,240 Speaker 1: Jet engine turbines use that energy to help drive the 185 00:11:25,280 --> 00:11:29,000 Speaker 1: compressor and intake fans. And in a jet engine, the 186 00:11:29,080 --> 00:11:32,720 Speaker 1: hot air from the combustion area will combine with cold 187 00:11:32,760 --> 00:11:35,520 Speaker 1: air that actually flows around the core of the engine. 188 00:11:35,960 --> 00:11:39,000 Speaker 1: So you have an engine design where air can flow 189 00:11:39,679 --> 00:11:42,920 Speaker 1: around the core as well as going into the core. 190 00:11:43,200 --> 00:11:45,160 Speaker 1: The air that goes into the core is the air 191 00:11:45,200 --> 00:11:51,000 Speaker 1: that gets compressed and then is UH in that combustion chamber. 192 00:11:51,080 --> 00:11:53,480 Speaker 1: The air going around it stays at a lower temperature. 193 00:11:53,760 --> 00:11:57,079 Speaker 1: The two will combine at the nozzle and escape through 194 00:11:57,120 --> 00:12:01,000 Speaker 1: the back of the engine. Now, as we know, a 195 00:12:01,080 --> 00:12:05,640 Speaker 1: reaction has an equal but opposite reaction, so that gas 196 00:12:05,679 --> 00:12:09,360 Speaker 1: shooting out the back of the engine creates a forward 197 00:12:09,520 --> 00:12:13,160 Speaker 1: thrust on that engine pushes the engine in the opposite direction. 198 00:12:13,679 --> 00:12:16,800 Speaker 1: The amazing amount of velocity means that it's enough to 199 00:12:17,559 --> 00:12:21,000 Speaker 1: push an entire massive vehicle like a jet plane, through 200 00:12:21,040 --> 00:12:24,280 Speaker 1: the air. An air breathing rocket engine would work very 201 00:12:24,360 --> 00:12:27,360 Speaker 1: much in the same way as your standard jet engine, 202 00:12:27,559 --> 00:12:31,359 Speaker 1: but would need some simplification in order to avoid overheating. 203 00:12:31,520 --> 00:12:35,800 Speaker 1: Simplification is being kind. I'm talking about removing some parts. 204 00:12:35,840 --> 00:12:40,160 Speaker 1: So scram jets a k A supersonic combustion. Ram jets 205 00:12:40,679 --> 00:12:45,680 Speaker 1: draw in air through an inlet, essentially an especially designed opening, 206 00:12:46,200 --> 00:12:49,839 Speaker 1: rather than using an intake fan, and they don't need 207 00:12:50,000 --> 00:12:54,240 Speaker 1: a rotating compressor to compress the air because the speed 208 00:12:54,320 --> 00:12:57,800 Speaker 1: at which these jets are traveling is so great that 209 00:12:57,880 --> 00:13:00,920 Speaker 1: the air gets compressed just by coming in through the inlet. 210 00:13:01,520 --> 00:13:04,240 Speaker 1: And so you have this incoming air that's being compressed 211 00:13:04,240 --> 00:13:07,880 Speaker 1: as it comes into this ramjet engine, and then fuel 212 00:13:07,880 --> 00:13:12,000 Speaker 1: will get added to the combustion area and this supersonic 213 00:13:12,040 --> 00:13:16,040 Speaker 1: airflow and fuel mixture gets ignited. That fuel tends to 214 00:13:16,040 --> 00:13:19,480 Speaker 1: be stuffed, like liquid hydrogen for example, And the reduction 215 00:13:19,800 --> 00:13:21,880 Speaker 1: of moving parts would allow this engine to operate and 216 00:13:21,960 --> 00:13:25,319 Speaker 1: much higher speeds than conventional jet engines, which again would 217 00:13:25,480 --> 00:13:29,960 Speaker 1: encounter those structural problems if they were to go way 218 00:13:30,000 --> 00:13:34,240 Speaker 1: too fast. So theoretically a scram jet you would be 219 00:13:34,280 --> 00:13:37,880 Speaker 1: able to hit like speeds of like mock fifteen I 220 00:13:37,920 --> 00:13:40,640 Speaker 1: think the fastest. As I recall, I don't have it 221 00:13:40,640 --> 00:13:43,800 Speaker 1: in my notes, but somewhere in the mock nine point 222 00:13:43,920 --> 00:13:46,920 Speaker 1: six or nine point seven range. That's the fastest we've 223 00:13:46,960 --> 00:13:48,640 Speaker 1: ever seen one go, but in theory they could go 224 00:13:48,720 --> 00:13:52,480 Speaker 1: much faster. Because of the nature of these engines, they 225 00:13:52,520 --> 00:13:55,400 Speaker 1: require a vehicle to already be going pretty fast before 226 00:13:55,440 --> 00:13:57,920 Speaker 1: they kick in, So you need to combine those air 227 00:13:57,960 --> 00:14:01,559 Speaker 1: breathing rockets with some other method that for the initial takeoff. 228 00:14:01,600 --> 00:14:04,840 Speaker 1: They would not be sufficient to drive a vehicle so 229 00:14:04,880 --> 00:14:08,480 Speaker 1: that they could take off from a horizontal surface, So 230 00:14:08,880 --> 00:14:11,880 Speaker 1: you might need an expendable rocket, for example, like the 231 00:14:11,960 --> 00:14:14,840 Speaker 1: kind that was proposed for the Spiral fifty. I'll talk 232 00:14:14,880 --> 00:14:17,040 Speaker 1: more about the Spiral in a moment, and I'll explain 233 00:14:17,080 --> 00:14:20,280 Speaker 1: what happened to that project, But first before I do that, 234 00:14:20,360 --> 00:14:30,640 Speaker 1: let's take a quick break to thank our sponsor. All right, 235 00:14:30,720 --> 00:14:36,080 Speaker 1: back to the Spiral. The project struggled throughout its relatively 236 00:14:36,320 --> 00:14:40,360 Speaker 1: short life due to lack of funding, but elements of 237 00:14:40,400 --> 00:14:44,040 Speaker 1: the project would continue even after the full Spiral fifty 238 00:14:44,120 --> 00:14:47,360 Speaker 1: fifty got the acts, which it officially did sometime around 239 00:14:48,240 --> 00:14:50,760 Speaker 1: although it had been canceled once before in nineteen sixty nine. 240 00:14:51,400 --> 00:14:54,720 Speaker 1: One of those projects was the MiG one oh five, 241 00:14:55,040 --> 00:14:59,200 Speaker 1: also known as the Experimental Passenger Orbital Aircraft. This big 242 00:14:59,240 --> 00:15:01,800 Speaker 1: one oh five was ah jet that was designed to 243 00:15:01,800 --> 00:15:04,520 Speaker 1: be a space plane. It never actually traveled all the 244 00:15:04,520 --> 00:15:07,240 Speaker 1: way up into space. It was built and it was 245 00:15:07,280 --> 00:15:10,680 Speaker 1: flown several times, but never all the way up to 246 00:15:10,720 --> 00:15:14,760 Speaker 1: an altitude that would qualify space. It did have in 247 00:15:14,840 --> 00:15:19,800 Speaker 1: its design a pilot capsule that was completely insulated from 248 00:15:19,880 --> 00:15:22,320 Speaker 1: the rest of the aircraft and it was fully ejectable, 249 00:15:22,400 --> 00:15:25,560 Speaker 1: So that was in order to us to to keep 250 00:15:25,600 --> 00:15:29,640 Speaker 1: the pilot safe. The fear was that without this capsule 251 00:15:29,920 --> 00:15:32,800 Speaker 1: and without that creatability, if something were to happen when 252 00:15:32,800 --> 00:15:38,360 Speaker 1: the vehicle was traveling at fantastic speeds, the pilots, the 253 00:15:38,400 --> 00:15:41,760 Speaker 1: pilot wouldn't have any options. The pilot would be a goner. 254 00:15:42,280 --> 00:15:44,600 Speaker 1: The MAG one oh five could take off from a runway, 255 00:15:44,720 --> 00:15:48,760 Speaker 1: or it could be dropped from a tuple of tow bomber. 256 00:15:49,520 --> 00:15:53,560 Speaker 1: The project was initially canceled on June sixty nine, but 257 00:15:53,640 --> 00:15:57,120 Speaker 1: the Soviets reinitiated the program in nineteen seventy four when 258 00:15:57,160 --> 00:16:00,600 Speaker 1: they heard about the US space Shuttle program. The MiG 259 00:16:00,680 --> 00:16:03,800 Speaker 1: one oh five was actually built and flew on eight 260 00:16:03,960 --> 00:16:08,040 Speaker 1: test flights at least eight anyway from nineteen seventy to 261 00:16:08,120 --> 00:16:10,360 Speaker 1: nineteen seventy eight. But again it never made it all 262 00:16:10,400 --> 00:16:12,520 Speaker 1: the way up into space. The tests were to make 263 00:16:12,560 --> 00:16:16,040 Speaker 1: certain the design principles were sound, but the project was 264 00:16:16,160 --> 00:16:18,600 Speaker 1: ended in nineteen seventy eight after the pilot of the 265 00:16:18,640 --> 00:16:21,960 Speaker 1: eighth test flight was forced to make a pretty hard landing, 266 00:16:22,600 --> 00:16:26,120 Speaker 1: and ultimately the Soviet Union decided that the cost of 267 00:16:26,160 --> 00:16:29,000 Speaker 1: that program didn't make much sense and they wanted to 268 00:16:29,040 --> 00:16:32,920 Speaker 1: divert the funds to other projects. The Boer series b 269 00:16:33,040 --> 00:16:36,400 Speaker 1: O R was another part of the design of this 270 00:16:36,600 --> 00:16:38,880 Speaker 1: space plane, and it started off as part of the 271 00:16:38,920 --> 00:16:43,960 Speaker 1: Spiral fifty fifty project. These were subscale test vehicles for 272 00:16:44,000 --> 00:16:48,600 Speaker 1: this proposed spiral, so Bore one was a much smaller 273 00:16:48,840 --> 00:16:53,520 Speaker 1: model Bore two boor three. They grew in size Bore four, 274 00:16:54,120 --> 00:16:57,520 Speaker 1: the one that typically we we say qualifies as a 275 00:16:57,520 --> 00:17:02,200 Speaker 1: space plane, was one half the scale of the proposed 276 00:17:02,280 --> 00:17:05,479 Speaker 1: Spiral fifty fifty, but it was also an unmanned vehicle 277 00:17:06,080 --> 00:17:10,080 Speaker 1: and it was primarily meant to test the design the 278 00:17:10,080 --> 00:17:14,600 Speaker 1: physical design of the spiral, making sure that the quality 279 00:17:14,600 --> 00:17:18,000 Speaker 1: the the calculations they had made for lift and gliding 280 00:17:18,080 --> 00:17:22,440 Speaker 1: and maneuverability would all make sense. And one Spiral fifty 281 00:17:22,480 --> 00:17:25,960 Speaker 1: fifty got the axe Bore four was able to continue, 282 00:17:26,440 --> 00:17:29,919 Speaker 1: but had kind of transitioned from being a test vehicle 283 00:17:29,960 --> 00:17:33,120 Speaker 1: for the spiral to being a test vehicle to try 284 00:17:33,280 --> 00:17:36,520 Speaker 1: different heat shield materials that would be used for a 285 00:17:36,560 --> 00:17:39,240 Speaker 1: different Soviet project that I'll talk about in just a second. 286 00:17:40,040 --> 00:17:43,359 Speaker 1: UH So, in a way, you could think of the 287 00:17:43,400 --> 00:17:48,160 Speaker 1: Boar four as being similar to a previous uh project 288 00:17:48,200 --> 00:17:50,680 Speaker 1: over the United States, one called Asset, which I talked 289 00:17:50,720 --> 00:17:53,440 Speaker 1: about in the last episode, that was intended to test 290 00:17:53,480 --> 00:17:57,919 Speaker 1: out heat shield materials for the Dinah Sore Experimental Vehicle, 291 00:17:58,160 --> 00:18:01,480 Speaker 1: which ended up getting the AXE. In the US, the 292 00:18:01,520 --> 00:18:04,160 Speaker 1: so Union built at least a few Bore four vehicles, 293 00:18:04,800 --> 00:18:06,359 Speaker 1: and as far as we know, there were at least 294 00:18:06,480 --> 00:18:11,120 Speaker 1: four test flights that took place between two and nine four, 295 00:18:11,520 --> 00:18:14,119 Speaker 1: and the Boar four was sent up to space on 296 00:18:14,160 --> 00:18:17,800 Speaker 1: a launch vehicle. They used different launch vehicles for each 297 00:18:17,840 --> 00:18:21,600 Speaker 1: of the tests, and then essentially it was allowed to 298 00:18:21,680 --> 00:18:24,359 Speaker 1: drop back to Earth and it would parachute down to 299 00:18:24,480 --> 00:18:26,800 Speaker 1: land in the ocean and the Soviet Navy would recover 300 00:18:27,000 --> 00:18:30,439 Speaker 1: the vehicles. Uh. A reason why I use a lot 301 00:18:30,520 --> 00:18:33,840 Speaker 1: of supposedly's and as far as we knows, it's because 302 00:18:34,480 --> 00:18:40,399 Speaker 1: the SOI Union was notoriously secretive. They did not want 303 00:18:40,560 --> 00:18:42,680 Speaker 1: the rest of the world to necessarily know what they 304 00:18:42,720 --> 00:18:46,040 Speaker 1: were and were not capable of doing so. A lot 305 00:18:46,080 --> 00:18:49,200 Speaker 1: of this information is stuff that came to light after 306 00:18:49,320 --> 00:18:53,160 Speaker 1: the Soviet Union collapsed, but there's still tons of stuff 307 00:18:53,200 --> 00:18:56,040 Speaker 1: we just don't know all the answers to Anyway. While 308 00:18:56,080 --> 00:18:58,639 Speaker 1: the Boar four was originally part of Spiral, the lessons 309 00:18:58,680 --> 00:19:01,200 Speaker 1: learned from that project but instead had informed the design 310 00:19:01,359 --> 00:19:05,240 Speaker 1: of a different Soviet space plane called the Buron Uh. 311 00:19:05,240 --> 00:19:09,760 Speaker 1: It was also the catalyst for a design of a 312 00:19:09,960 --> 00:19:13,000 Speaker 1: US space plane, the Boar four that is, but more 313 00:19:13,040 --> 00:19:16,280 Speaker 1: on that in a bit. So. Buron is a Russian 314 00:19:16,320 --> 00:19:19,360 Speaker 1: word for blizzard or snowstorm, and one that I am 315 00:19:19,440 --> 00:19:22,679 Speaker 1: sure I am mispronouncing, so my apologies. The Buron was 316 00:19:22,760 --> 00:19:26,399 Speaker 1: essentially the Soviet Union's version of the Space Shuttle. It 317 00:19:26,400 --> 00:19:28,760 Speaker 1: was originally intended to keep the Soviet Union in a 318 00:19:28,800 --> 00:19:31,800 Speaker 1: competitive place with regard to the United States and space 319 00:19:31,840 --> 00:19:36,840 Speaker 1: exploration and space exploitation. To be frank ironically, the cost 320 00:19:36,880 --> 00:19:39,480 Speaker 1: of the program would actually help contribute to the collapse 321 00:19:39,600 --> 00:19:42,840 Speaker 1: of the Soviet Union itself. So while it was meant 322 00:19:42,840 --> 00:19:46,080 Speaker 1: to make sure the Soviet Union remained in a strong 323 00:19:46,119 --> 00:19:49,879 Speaker 1: position worldwide. You could argue that it was one of 324 00:19:49,920 --> 00:19:53,720 Speaker 1: the many factors that would lead to the Soviet Union 325 00:19:53,840 --> 00:19:56,920 Speaker 1: dissolving in the nineteen seventies, While the United States was 326 00:19:56,960 --> 00:19:59,639 Speaker 1: developing the space Shuttle program, the Soviet Union began to 327 00:19:59,680 --> 00:20:02,920 Speaker 1: look into creating a similar program to maintain tactical parody 328 00:20:03,000 --> 00:20:06,080 Speaker 1: with the US. There was a legitimate fear among Soviet 329 00:20:06,160 --> 00:20:08,359 Speaker 1: leadership that the space Shuttle was going to be put 330 00:20:08,400 --> 00:20:11,960 Speaker 1: to military use, which would put the Soviets at disadvantage, 331 00:20:12,119 --> 00:20:15,119 Speaker 1: and the engineers in the Soviet space program studied the 332 00:20:15,160 --> 00:20:17,800 Speaker 1: designs for the space Shuttle program, and they sort of 333 00:20:17,840 --> 00:20:20,520 Speaker 1: began to pick and choose which components of the space 334 00:20:20,520 --> 00:20:24,400 Speaker 1: Shuttle they thought were good in relation to the Soviet 335 00:20:24,480 --> 00:20:27,840 Speaker 1: space program and which ones they should reject. So, for example, 336 00:20:28,000 --> 00:20:32,080 Speaker 1: the Soviets had not developed a an enormous solid rocket 337 00:20:32,240 --> 00:20:35,240 Speaker 1: booster that the Space Shuttle would be using. The in fact, 338 00:20:35,320 --> 00:20:38,000 Speaker 1: Space Shell used two of them for liftoff, so the 339 00:20:38,000 --> 00:20:42,879 Speaker 1: Buron space program would instead rely on liquid propellant boosters, 340 00:20:42,880 --> 00:20:47,040 Speaker 1: not solid rocket fuel boosters. A Buran orbiter was launched 341 00:20:47,119 --> 00:20:52,840 Speaker 1: on November. This was actually several years behind schedule, as 342 00:20:52,840 --> 00:20:56,640 Speaker 1: the program was plagued with lots of problems, technological issues, 343 00:20:56,960 --> 00:21:00,840 Speaker 1: funding problems, a lot of managements. That's a lot of 344 00:21:01,640 --> 00:21:05,280 Speaker 1: Soviet politicians further up the chain who were arguing with 345 00:21:05,320 --> 00:21:09,600 Speaker 1: one another as the years went by. This orbiter that 346 00:21:09,720 --> 00:21:12,560 Speaker 1: launched had no crew aboard it. It was a completely 347 00:21:12,600 --> 00:21:18,400 Speaker 1: autonomous flight. It flew to space, it returned, used automated systems, 348 00:21:18,600 --> 00:21:21,639 Speaker 1: and actually landed under automatic control, making it the first 349 00:21:21,800 --> 00:21:26,520 Speaker 1: space plane too go into space and return and land automatically. 350 00:21:26,920 --> 00:21:30,159 Speaker 1: It was a successful test of this technology, but the 351 00:21:30,200 --> 00:21:34,359 Speaker 1: cost of the program was incredible and the Soviet Union 352 00:21:34,440 --> 00:21:37,040 Speaker 1: was crumbling, so after the collapse of the Soviet regime, 353 00:21:37,640 --> 00:21:40,679 Speaker 1: the program languished. As far as I can tell, it 354 00:21:40,720 --> 00:21:44,840 Speaker 1: was never officially canceled, largely because frankly, the government had 355 00:21:44,840 --> 00:21:48,959 Speaker 1: bigger things to worry about having this this massive transition, 356 00:21:49,600 --> 00:21:54,480 Speaker 1: but because there were no funds, the program essentially ceased 357 00:21:54,600 --> 00:21:58,520 Speaker 1: to be without an official cancelation. Uh the orbiter was 358 00:21:58,720 --> 00:22:03,359 Speaker 1: stored in a hangar, but that hangar would later collapse 359 00:22:03,560 --> 00:22:06,320 Speaker 1: during a snowstorm and that would cause damage to the 360 00:22:06,359 --> 00:22:10,960 Speaker 1: spacecraft inside. Meanwhile, as Buron was preparing to make history 361 00:22:11,040 --> 00:22:13,840 Speaker 1: and its launch, there were engineers in the United Kingdom 362 00:22:14,080 --> 00:22:16,960 Speaker 1: who were working on a different concept. This was a 363 00:22:17,000 --> 00:22:21,399 Speaker 1: horizontal takeoff and landing vehicle called the Hotel h O 364 00:22:21,760 --> 00:22:27,240 Speaker 1: t o L horizontal or take off landing. The rocket 365 00:22:27,280 --> 00:22:30,240 Speaker 1: engine proposed for this vehicle was a special one called 366 00:22:30,280 --> 00:22:34,119 Speaker 1: the Rolls Royce RB five four five air slash liquid 367 00:22:34,160 --> 00:22:39,240 Speaker 1: hydrogen slash liquid oxygen rocket engine YEP. A Rolls Royce 368 00:22:39,280 --> 00:22:42,960 Speaker 1: engine falls into the category of a single stage to 369 00:22:43,240 --> 00:22:47,080 Speaker 1: orbit or s s O concept, so you would have 370 00:22:47,600 --> 00:22:50,359 Speaker 1: this one instead of a multi stage rocket, you have 371 00:22:50,480 --> 00:22:55,520 Speaker 1: this single stage method of getting this vehicle up into space. 372 00:22:56,160 --> 00:22:58,639 Speaker 1: The concept placed the engine at the rear end of 373 00:22:58,640 --> 00:23:02,240 Speaker 1: the vehicle, so think of like a a kind of 374 00:23:02,280 --> 00:23:05,880 Speaker 1: a space shuttle looking design, and then blunt the back 375 00:23:06,040 --> 00:23:08,320 Speaker 1: end and you know, you chopped the tail end of 376 00:23:08,320 --> 00:23:10,960 Speaker 1: it off and you place an engine right there on 377 00:23:11,000 --> 00:23:14,240 Speaker 1: the very back, and then the wings had to go 378 00:23:14,280 --> 00:23:16,199 Speaker 1: in the back too, because that's where the engine was. 379 00:23:16,640 --> 00:23:19,639 Speaker 1: And numerous calculations showed that they were going to have 380 00:23:19,680 --> 00:23:22,440 Speaker 1: to make a lot of different adjustments because the way 381 00:23:22,480 --> 00:23:25,439 Speaker 1: they had laid out the vehicle meant that its center 382 00:23:25,440 --> 00:23:27,919 Speaker 1: of gravity was not where it needed to be in 383 00:23:28,040 --> 00:23:31,320 Speaker 1: order for it to maintain efficient flight, so they had 384 00:23:31,320 --> 00:23:34,639 Speaker 1: to keep making tweaks, which led to compromises when it 385 00:23:34,680 --> 00:23:37,040 Speaker 1: came to the payload that the vehicle would be able 386 00:23:37,080 --> 00:23:39,560 Speaker 1: to carry, and eventually that reached a point where it 387 00:23:39,600 --> 00:23:41,920 Speaker 1: was clear that the concessions they were having to make 388 00:23:42,520 --> 00:23:46,280 Speaker 1: would make this aircraft unfeasible for practical use because you 389 00:23:46,280 --> 00:23:48,800 Speaker 1: wouldn't be able to carry enough stuff in it to 390 00:23:49,000 --> 00:23:52,040 Speaker 1: make it worth the expense of launching it. So the 391 00:23:52,080 --> 00:23:56,320 Speaker 1: project was ultimately defunded, but a company called Reaction Engines 392 00:23:56,520 --> 00:24:00,560 Speaker 1: Limited resurrected that design to become the foundation for a 393 00:24:00,600 --> 00:24:06,000 Speaker 1: new project called Skylawn. Skylawn is still in development, and 394 00:24:06,200 --> 00:24:09,160 Speaker 1: assuming it ever becomes a reality, it will rely upon 395 00:24:09,160 --> 00:24:12,960 Speaker 1: an air breathing rocket propulsion system called SABER, which stands 396 00:24:12,960 --> 00:24:16,879 Speaker 1: for Synergetic air Breathing Rocket Engine. So I'll have to 397 00:24:16,880 --> 00:24:20,560 Speaker 1: wait and see if that ever becomes a reality. There 398 00:24:20,600 --> 00:24:23,879 Speaker 1: are people really working on it. The question is will 399 00:24:23,920 --> 00:24:29,359 Speaker 1: there ever be a working aircraft before something else happens, 400 00:24:29,440 --> 00:24:32,440 Speaker 1: like a project gets runs out of funding. In two 401 00:24:32,440 --> 00:24:35,440 Speaker 1: thousand four, a company co founded by Paul Allen, who 402 00:24:35,520 --> 00:24:37,919 Speaker 1: was one of the co founders of a little company 403 00:24:37,960 --> 00:24:41,840 Speaker 1: called Microsoft back in the nineteen seventies debuted an experimental 404 00:24:41,920 --> 00:24:46,760 Speaker 1: rocket powered vehicle called Spaceship one. Spaceship one is designed 405 00:24:46,800 --> 00:24:50,200 Speaker 1: to launch from a larger aircraft, so you can think 406 00:24:50,240 --> 00:24:54,479 Speaker 1: of it as a giant plane that has uh like 407 00:24:54,920 --> 00:24:59,560 Speaker 1: two fuselages, one on either side of an extreme uh 408 00:25:00,000 --> 00:25:04,800 Speaker 1: Maine design. In the center is a h a connector 409 00:25:05,240 --> 00:25:08,439 Speaker 1: where it can carry a payload underneath it. They call 410 00:25:08,520 --> 00:25:11,040 Speaker 1: it like a parasite system, kind of like a lamb 411 00:25:11,080 --> 00:25:13,960 Speaker 1: prey on a shark. I guess, And although that's a 412 00:25:14,080 --> 00:25:16,800 Speaker 1: not a parasite, it's a symbiotic anyway, it doesn't matter. 413 00:25:17,040 --> 00:25:20,159 Speaker 1: So the Spaceship one would be carried by this larger vehicle, 414 00:25:20,200 --> 00:25:23,760 Speaker 1: which would then take it to a proper altitude, and 415 00:25:23,800 --> 00:25:28,200 Speaker 1: then the Spaceship one would detach and engage its engines 416 00:25:28,280 --> 00:25:31,320 Speaker 1: to continue its trip. The Spaceship one would become the 417 00:25:31,400 --> 00:25:35,800 Speaker 1: first private manned spacecraft to actually fly into space. Back 418 00:25:35,800 --> 00:25:38,400 Speaker 1: in two thousand four, they won an X Prize for it. 419 00:25:39,000 --> 00:25:41,320 Speaker 1: This was a test bed vehicle in many ways. It 420 00:25:41,400 --> 00:25:45,480 Speaker 1: was not capable of orbital flight typically the way a 421 00:25:45,480 --> 00:25:47,880 Speaker 1: flight would work. I kind of mentioned this a second ago. 422 00:25:47,920 --> 00:25:50,800 Speaker 1: But you have the carrier aircraft, which was called the 423 00:25:50,880 --> 00:25:54,119 Speaker 1: White Knight that would climb to an altitude of about 424 00:25:54,520 --> 00:25:58,320 Speaker 1: nine miles or fourteen kilometers or so. Why Night would 425 00:25:58,359 --> 00:26:02,040 Speaker 1: then release Spaceship one, which would drop into a glide. 426 00:26:02,359 --> 00:26:05,320 Speaker 1: It would reach a safe distance from the carrier aircraft, 427 00:26:05,320 --> 00:26:07,960 Speaker 1: which wouldn't take long at all, and then ignite its 428 00:26:08,080 --> 00:26:11,720 Speaker 1: rocket engine. And when the rocket would fire, the spacecraft 429 00:26:11,880 --> 00:26:16,760 Speaker 1: craft would adjustice attitude to a climbing UH angle and 430 00:26:16,760 --> 00:26:19,280 Speaker 1: it would start climbing higher in altitude. The engines would 431 00:26:19,280 --> 00:26:22,600 Speaker 1: only fire for a relatively short time. The rest of 432 00:26:22,640 --> 00:26:26,520 Speaker 1: the flight upward would be empowered and driven by momentum. 433 00:26:26,560 --> 00:26:29,199 Speaker 1: But if you had a long enough rocket burn you 434 00:26:29,240 --> 00:26:32,680 Speaker 1: could propel the craft beyond the carm online which is 435 00:26:32,720 --> 00:26:36,520 Speaker 1: at sixty two miles kilometers. And then the spacecraft would 436 00:26:36,560 --> 00:26:39,719 Speaker 1: change its wing configuration in order to create more drag, 437 00:26:40,200 --> 00:26:43,120 Speaker 1: So it would have a system where it's wings would 438 00:26:43,119 --> 00:26:46,240 Speaker 1: move in such a way to UH to do arrow braking. 439 00:26:46,320 --> 00:26:49,080 Speaker 1: By creating drag, it would slow. As it was slow down, 440 00:26:49,119 --> 00:26:52,080 Speaker 1: it would then start to lose altitude and re enter 441 00:26:52,200 --> 00:26:55,679 Speaker 1: the atmosphere and it would begin to descent and deceleration 442 00:26:55,760 --> 00:26:58,879 Speaker 1: process back to Earth. And I hear that the landing 443 00:26:58,920 --> 00:27:01,679 Speaker 1: would be more than a little bit bumpy, but it 444 00:27:01,800 --> 00:27:08,080 Speaker 1: was serviceable for an experimental aircraft. That design would lead 445 00:27:08,280 --> 00:27:11,399 Speaker 1: to the Spaceship Too. That one was built by the 446 00:27:11,440 --> 00:27:14,720 Speaker 1: Spaceship Company. That company grew out of the one that 447 00:27:14,840 --> 00:27:18,480 Speaker 1: made Spaceship one, as well as a partnership with another company, 448 00:27:18,720 --> 00:27:23,919 Speaker 1: Virgin Group. These days, Virgin Galactic owns the Spaceship Company, 449 00:27:23,960 --> 00:27:26,760 Speaker 1: So this is where we get Virgin Galactic and that 450 00:27:26,840 --> 00:27:32,560 Speaker 1: proposal for a space tourism type of private spacecraft. The 451 00:27:32,560 --> 00:27:36,480 Speaker 1: spaceship to design is in many ways similar to Spaceship one. 452 00:27:36,800 --> 00:27:39,320 Speaker 1: It is carried by a larger aircraft, this time the 453 00:27:39,359 --> 00:27:43,280 Speaker 1: White Knight too. It's meant to be a passenger aircraft, 454 00:27:43,440 --> 00:27:46,720 Speaker 1: so you could actually have space tourism. Passengers wouldn't go 455 00:27:46,720 --> 00:27:49,639 Speaker 1: into orbit like the Spaceship one. This aircraft would cross 456 00:27:49,680 --> 00:27:53,440 Speaker 1: the Carman line. Passengers would experience free fall conditions, so 457 00:27:53,880 --> 00:27:56,919 Speaker 1: witlessness essentially. They would be able to experience that for 458 00:27:56,960 --> 00:27:59,359 Speaker 1: a short while before the aircraft re entered the Earth's 459 00:27:59,359 --> 00:28:02,000 Speaker 1: atmosphere and would return home. It would be able to 460 00:28:02,000 --> 00:28:05,880 Speaker 1: hold up to six passengers and two pilots. In October, 461 00:28:07,040 --> 00:28:12,160 Speaker 1: the test vehicle Spaceship to VSS Enterprise had a tragic 462 00:28:12,160 --> 00:28:15,480 Speaker 1: accident uh it crashed after the aircraft had suffered some 463 00:28:15,560 --> 00:28:19,439 Speaker 1: damage during its flight. One of the co pilots died 464 00:28:19,720 --> 00:28:22,800 Speaker 1: in this crash, the other one was injured. An investigation 465 00:28:22,840 --> 00:28:26,800 Speaker 1: after the fact found that there were numerous problems that 466 00:28:26,920 --> 00:28:31,600 Speaker 1: could have contributed to this disaster, ranging from safeguard designs 467 00:28:31,640 --> 00:28:36,560 Speaker 1: to perhaps an underprepared and anxious co pilot. So there 468 00:28:36,640 --> 00:28:41,720 Speaker 1: wasn't one issue necessarily that was at fault, but there 469 00:28:41,760 --> 00:28:45,080 Speaker 1: was a combination of problems that may have contributed to this. 470 00:28:45,720 --> 00:28:49,600 Speaker 1: The program, however, has continued. There is now the VSS 471 00:28:49,760 --> 00:28:52,880 Speaker 1: Unity space plane, which has conducted several test flights. Since 472 00:28:54,160 --> 00:28:57,680 Speaker 1: there's no word on when commercial flights will begin, but 473 00:28:57,840 --> 00:29:00,840 Speaker 1: Virgin Galactic has taken bookings for them. Flight will last 474 00:29:00,880 --> 00:29:03,320 Speaker 1: about two and a half hours and will include some 475 00:29:03,360 --> 00:29:08,040 Speaker 1: weightlessness on that flight, and a ticket on one of 476 00:29:08,080 --> 00:29:11,400 Speaker 1: these early Virgin Galactic flights will set you back the 477 00:29:11,680 --> 00:29:18,000 Speaker 1: princely sum of two hundred fifty thousand dollars, yes a 478 00:29:18,200 --> 00:29:21,000 Speaker 1: quarter of a million bucks for a two and a 479 00:29:21,040 --> 00:29:24,920 Speaker 1: half hour space flight, our space plane flight. You know, 480 00:29:24,960 --> 00:29:26,680 Speaker 1: I mean how that two and a half hours You're 481 00:29:26,680 --> 00:29:29,000 Speaker 1: only going to be spending a few minutes in the 482 00:29:29,000 --> 00:29:33,000 Speaker 1: weightlessness environment. So still, you know it could be a 483 00:29:33,040 --> 00:29:36,800 Speaker 1: once in a lifetime opportunity if you've got the cash. 484 00:29:37,200 --> 00:29:40,520 Speaker 1: Really starts to divide the haves and have nots in 485 00:29:40,560 --> 00:29:43,800 Speaker 1: a totally new way, doesn't it. Like those who have 486 00:29:43,880 --> 00:29:46,160 Speaker 1: been to space and those who haven't. I'm going to 487 00:29:46,240 --> 00:29:49,400 Speaker 1: be in that second category at that price range anyway, 488 00:29:49,680 --> 00:29:52,720 Speaker 1: in order for me to make enough money to finally 489 00:29:52,840 --> 00:29:54,920 Speaker 1: get to space. I'm going to take a quick break 490 00:29:55,120 --> 00:30:05,600 Speaker 1: to thank our sponsor. Between the unveiling of Spaceship one 491 00:30:05,760 --> 00:30:08,240 Speaker 1: and the first test flighted Spaceship two, there were a 492 00:30:08,320 --> 00:30:11,040 Speaker 1: couple of other notable space plane developments. As I said, 493 00:30:11,040 --> 00:30:14,040 Speaker 1: we have to jump around chronology quite a bit. One 494 00:30:14,240 --> 00:30:18,400 Speaker 1: of those developments was the famously secret X thirty seven 495 00:30:18,440 --> 00:30:21,360 Speaker 1: B a k a. The Orbital Test Vehicle or o 496 00:30:21,520 --> 00:30:25,280 Speaker 1: t V. X thirty seven actually covers a range of 497 00:30:25,320 --> 00:30:28,640 Speaker 1: different orbital test vehicles. The X thirty seven B is 498 00:30:28,680 --> 00:30:31,600 Speaker 1: the one we're particularly interested in because it's in use 499 00:30:32,440 --> 00:30:36,040 Speaker 1: right now as I record this podcast. So Boeing manufactured 500 00:30:36,080 --> 00:30:38,840 Speaker 1: the X thirty seven B. The project began at NASA, 501 00:30:39,120 --> 00:30:42,200 Speaker 1: it changed hands to the Department of Defense in the 502 00:30:42,240 --> 00:30:45,600 Speaker 1: early two thousands and the Air Force oversees it. It's 503 00:30:45,640 --> 00:30:50,280 Speaker 1: an unmanned spacecraft, so there's no pilot, there's no crew. 504 00:30:50,920 --> 00:30:53,640 Speaker 1: It's launched as a payload on a rocket launch vehicle 505 00:30:53,920 --> 00:30:57,760 Speaker 1: like SpaceX's Falcon nine, for example, and then it goes 506 00:30:57,800 --> 00:31:00,640 Speaker 1: into orbit, and it will orbit the Earth for given 507 00:31:00,680 --> 00:31:03,080 Speaker 1: amount of time dependent upon the mission, and it can 508 00:31:03,120 --> 00:31:06,160 Speaker 1: return to Earth and land as a space plane on 509 00:31:06,200 --> 00:31:11,160 Speaker 1: a landing strip. And it has done this four times already, 510 00:31:11,160 --> 00:31:14,680 Speaker 1: with the fifth mission still in uh in service as 511 00:31:14,720 --> 00:31:18,320 Speaker 1: of the recording of this podcast. So officially, the purpose 512 00:31:18,440 --> 00:31:21,120 Speaker 1: of the X thirty seven B is to perform, as quote, 513 00:31:21,520 --> 00:31:26,440 Speaker 1: an experimental test program to demonstrate technologies for a reliable, reusable, 514 00:31:26,520 --> 00:31:29,160 Speaker 1: unmanned space test platform for the U S Air Force 515 00:31:29,240 --> 00:31:32,360 Speaker 1: end quote. It's supposed to test various systems and designs 516 00:31:32,360 --> 00:31:35,560 Speaker 1: for a sustainable approach to space operations. So in other words, 517 00:31:35,600 --> 00:31:38,280 Speaker 1: again more R and D, so that you can build 518 00:31:38,320 --> 00:31:43,040 Speaker 1: those capabilities into future practical vehicles. However, there are a 519 00:31:43,040 --> 00:31:46,440 Speaker 1: lot of people who have theories about other purposes the 520 00:31:46,600 --> 00:31:50,560 Speaker 1: X thirty seven B could fulfill practical applications it may 521 00:31:50,680 --> 00:31:54,040 Speaker 1: already be doing in addition to being a testing ground 522 00:31:54,360 --> 00:31:58,080 Speaker 1: such as acting as a surveillance tool like a spy satellite, 523 00:31:58,520 --> 00:32:03,000 Speaker 1: or even as a papens platform. In April two thousand eighteen, 524 00:32:03,360 --> 00:32:05,920 Speaker 1: the Orbital Test Vehicle five mission hit a landmark when 525 00:32:05,920 --> 00:32:08,200 Speaker 1: it was announced the unmanned vehicle had spent two hundred 526 00:32:08,240 --> 00:32:11,720 Speaker 1: days in orbit. Uh. That isn't a landmark in the 527 00:32:11,760 --> 00:32:15,040 Speaker 1: sense of breaking any records. The previous orbital test vehicles 528 00:32:15,080 --> 00:32:18,000 Speaker 1: had all done that as well. The purpose of the mission, 529 00:32:18,400 --> 00:32:21,160 Speaker 1: at least the stated purpose of the mission is to 530 00:32:21,240 --> 00:32:23,800 Speaker 1: test experimental systems and how they hold up to the 531 00:32:23,880 --> 00:32:27,880 Speaker 1: rigors of space travel over time, including stuff like radiation exposure. 532 00:32:28,880 --> 00:32:32,400 Speaker 1: As of August, the orbiter was still circling the Earth. 533 00:32:32,760 --> 00:32:36,520 Speaker 1: Satellite tracker in the Netherlands captured images of it. Uh. 534 00:32:36,720 --> 00:32:40,000 Speaker 1: But we don't know how long this mission will last. 535 00:32:40,040 --> 00:32:44,520 Speaker 1: The Air Force is notoriously quiet about the X three 536 00:32:44,640 --> 00:32:48,800 Speaker 1: seven B, giving only the bare minimum of information about it. However, 537 00:32:48,840 --> 00:32:53,080 Speaker 1: the past OTV missions have shown that they tend to 538 00:32:53,600 --> 00:32:55,760 Speaker 1: go up there for a very long time. Each O 539 00:32:55,960 --> 00:33:00,000 Speaker 1: t V mission would last longer than the one before 540 00:33:00,040 --> 00:33:02,720 Speaker 1: for it, so if we go by that, the o 541 00:33:02,840 --> 00:33:05,440 Speaker 1: t V five mission isn't even out of the first 542 00:33:05,520 --> 00:33:08,920 Speaker 1: half of its journey. The O t V four, the 543 00:33:08,960 --> 00:33:12,800 Speaker 1: one before this one, spent a total of seven eighteen 544 00:33:12,960 --> 00:33:18,720 Speaker 1: days in orbit from May to May. So if we're 545 00:33:18,760 --> 00:33:22,080 Speaker 1: just over two hundred, we're coming up on one year 546 00:33:22,600 --> 00:33:25,760 Speaker 1: for O t V five, we got a ways to go. If, 547 00:33:25,800 --> 00:33:28,200 Speaker 1: in fact, it continues the trend of staying up there 548 00:33:28,320 --> 00:33:32,040 Speaker 1: longer than its predecessor. In the United States, the move 549 00:33:32,120 --> 00:33:35,640 Speaker 1: to create a space force suggests that projects like the 550 00:33:35,760 --> 00:33:38,600 Speaker 1: X three seven B will be leveraged to test out 551 00:33:38,600 --> 00:33:42,480 Speaker 1: systems with direct military applications beyond a research platform for 552 00:33:42,560 --> 00:33:46,120 Speaker 1: future designs. I am not necessarily in favor of that, 553 00:33:47,040 --> 00:33:51,040 Speaker 1: but it appears to be a reality. Remember earlier when 554 00:33:51,080 --> 00:33:53,760 Speaker 1: I was talking about how the Bore four, that unmanned 555 00:33:53,840 --> 00:33:57,280 Speaker 1: Soviet test vehicle, inspired some U S engineers, Well, it's 556 00:33:57,280 --> 00:33:59,600 Speaker 1: time for us to go back to that story. So again. 557 00:33:59,680 --> 00:34:02,640 Speaker 1: Back in the after the first test flight of the 558 00:34:02,680 --> 00:34:07,400 Speaker 1: Boar four, there was an Australian surveillance aircraft that caught 559 00:34:07,440 --> 00:34:11,719 Speaker 1: images of the Boar four when the Soviets were retrieving 560 00:34:11,760 --> 00:34:15,319 Speaker 1: it from the ocean. American engineers would pour over those 561 00:34:15,360 --> 00:34:17,759 Speaker 1: images to figure out what the Soviets were up to 562 00:34:18,360 --> 00:34:22,080 Speaker 1: and work began on designing their own model of the 563 00:34:22,120 --> 00:34:25,720 Speaker 1: Boar four. They use those images to build a reconstruction 564 00:34:25,760 --> 00:34:28,399 Speaker 1: of it. The American engineers discovered that the Boar four 565 00:34:28,440 --> 00:34:31,959 Speaker 1: shape was particularly good for stable flight and would allow 566 00:34:32,000 --> 00:34:36,040 Speaker 1: for extreme maneuverability in glide mode. Well in the wake 567 00:34:36,200 --> 00:34:39,880 Speaker 1: of the Challenger accident in the mid eighties, NASA began 568 00:34:39,960 --> 00:34:43,960 Speaker 1: to look into other potential solutions that might be used 569 00:34:43,960 --> 00:34:48,320 Speaker 1: to transport astronauts safely back to Earth if they were 570 00:34:48,360 --> 00:34:51,759 Speaker 1: on say, a space station, it would be an emergency 571 00:34:51,800 --> 00:34:54,799 Speaker 1: return vehicle, essentially something that could hold up to ten 572 00:34:54,920 --> 00:34:57,680 Speaker 1: passengers at a time, possibly Now this was when the 573 00:34:57,800 --> 00:35:00,399 Speaker 1: United States was also considering the construction of a new 574 00:35:00,440 --> 00:35:03,760 Speaker 1: space station that would have been called space Station Freedom. 575 00:35:03,800 --> 00:35:08,239 Speaker 1: The vehicle's designation for this escape vehicle was h L 576 00:35:08,480 --> 00:35:11,440 Speaker 1: DASH twenty. Engineers would build a full scale mock up 577 00:35:11,480 --> 00:35:14,440 Speaker 1: of the h L twenty, but by the time that happened, 578 00:35:14,840 --> 00:35:18,600 Speaker 1: things had already changed politically. The United States was now 579 00:35:18,680 --> 00:35:22,400 Speaker 1: partnered with Russia on a new project, the International Space Station, 580 00:35:22,840 --> 00:35:25,720 Speaker 1: and part of that design included relying upon a Russian 581 00:35:25,760 --> 00:35:29,759 Speaker 1: Soyu's capsule, which would use the ballistics method of re 582 00:35:30,080 --> 00:35:32,560 Speaker 1: entry into the Art's atmosphere in order to land back 583 00:35:32,600 --> 00:35:35,799 Speaker 1: on Earth, and that would become the lifeboat for this 584 00:35:35,840 --> 00:35:38,239 Speaker 1: international space station. It seemed to negate the need for 585 00:35:38,280 --> 00:35:41,560 Speaker 1: the HL twenty. Flash forward several years in, a company 586 00:35:41,560 --> 00:35:44,359 Speaker 1: called space Dev announced that it was going to use 587 00:35:44,400 --> 00:35:47,120 Speaker 1: the HL twenty design as a starting point for a 588 00:35:47,239 --> 00:35:50,880 Speaker 1: new reusable spacecraft that could be operated as a means 589 00:35:50,960 --> 00:35:54,040 Speaker 1: of taking crew to and from the space station. The 590 00:35:54,040 --> 00:35:57,600 Speaker 1: announcement came in right around the same time that NASA 591 00:35:57,680 --> 00:36:00,200 Speaker 1: was explaining that the space Shuttle program was wrapping up. 592 00:36:00,760 --> 00:36:04,319 Speaker 1: This new spacecraft was called the Dream Chaser. Space Dev 593 00:36:04,400 --> 00:36:06,520 Speaker 1: was one of the companies that bid for money from 594 00:36:06,600 --> 00:36:09,800 Speaker 1: NASA in order to continue developing its space plane design 595 00:36:10,280 --> 00:36:13,399 Speaker 1: because NASA was in need of some sort of spacecraft 596 00:36:13,719 --> 00:36:16,160 Speaker 1: that could be sent up to the International Space Station 597 00:36:16,200 --> 00:36:19,960 Speaker 1: since the Space Shuttle program was ending. But in twenty fifteen, 598 00:36:20,040 --> 00:36:23,120 Speaker 1: NASA decided to focus on SpaceX and Boeing for that, 599 00:36:23,280 --> 00:36:26,920 Speaker 1: and both of those companies were designing capsules that resemble 600 00:36:27,200 --> 00:36:30,279 Speaker 1: sort of the Apollo spacecraft in general design, so again 601 00:36:30,320 --> 00:36:32,480 Speaker 1: they would use sort of the ballistic re entry method 602 00:36:32,600 --> 00:36:37,440 Speaker 1: rather than a space plane guided landing method. In twenty sixteen, 603 00:36:37,560 --> 00:36:40,920 Speaker 1: space Dev's parent company, Sierra Nevada Corporation, would secure a 604 00:36:40,960 --> 00:36:44,640 Speaker 1: contract with NASA to perform six delivery missions for that 605 00:36:44,680 --> 00:36:47,960 Speaker 1: space agency, with a contract term going from late twenty 606 00:36:48,040 --> 00:36:52,279 Speaker 1: nineteen up to twenty four The dream Chaser design had 607 00:36:52,320 --> 00:36:57,120 Speaker 1: to be changed significantly for this agreement, so they stripped 608 00:36:57,120 --> 00:37:01,480 Speaker 1: out a lot of the crew capacity, so that I 609 00:37:01,520 --> 00:37:06,000 Speaker 1: think six crew seats were taken out, and that whole 610 00:37:06,000 --> 00:37:10,200 Speaker 1: section was converted so it could hold pressurized or unpressurized cargo. 611 00:37:10,640 --> 00:37:14,920 Speaker 1: The company still plans to pursue the the crew version 612 00:37:15,080 --> 00:37:18,000 Speaker 1: of the dream Chaser in the future. They're hoping that 613 00:37:18,040 --> 00:37:21,520 Speaker 1: they can revisit that in tw so they haven't abandoned 614 00:37:21,520 --> 00:37:24,200 Speaker 1: that idea entirely, but in the meantime they're also working 615 00:37:24,200 --> 00:37:28,239 Speaker 1: on this other version of their vehicle which has practical application. 616 00:37:28,800 --> 00:37:32,000 Speaker 1: Boeing meanwhile is working on another space plane design that 617 00:37:32,080 --> 00:37:36,680 Speaker 1: has the DARPA designation of Excess one Excess standing for 618 00:37:36,800 --> 00:37:42,000 Speaker 1: experimental space plane. Boeing calls this aircraft the Phantom Express. 619 00:37:42,480 --> 00:37:48,120 Speaker 1: This autonomous space plane is a vertical takeoff, horizontal landing spacecraft, 620 00:37:49,040 --> 00:37:52,879 Speaker 1: so the the engine on this is designed to take 621 00:37:52,880 --> 00:37:55,799 Speaker 1: off vertically like it was a space Shuttle, except it's 622 00:37:55,840 --> 00:37:58,400 Speaker 1: all part of the same vehicle, it's not on a 623 00:37:58,400 --> 00:38:01,600 Speaker 1: booster rocket. The goal of the spacecraft is ambitious. It 624 00:38:01,719 --> 00:38:05,400 Speaker 1: is to be able to launch into space, deliver small 625 00:38:05,440 --> 00:38:09,319 Speaker 1: satellites to orbit and return in the same day, and 626 00:38:09,360 --> 00:38:12,239 Speaker 1: then get refurbished and turned around in order to be 627 00:38:12,360 --> 00:38:15,640 Speaker 1: usable within twenty four hours, with a goal of doing 628 00:38:15,680 --> 00:38:18,680 Speaker 1: this for ten days in a row. Such a plane 629 00:38:18,680 --> 00:38:22,960 Speaker 1: would significantly bring down the costs of launching smaller satellites. 630 00:38:23,440 --> 00:38:26,120 Speaker 1: It would reduce the need to have those smaller satellites 631 00:38:26,160 --> 00:38:30,440 Speaker 1: piggyback on top of larger payloads. Typically, if you have 632 00:38:30,640 --> 00:38:33,040 Speaker 1: a small satellite and you want to launch it into orbit, 633 00:38:33,320 --> 00:38:35,440 Speaker 1: you have to wait. You have to wait until there's 634 00:38:35,719 --> 00:38:39,360 Speaker 1: a payload that still has some room for your small satellite, 635 00:38:39,760 --> 00:38:43,600 Speaker 1: because the cost would be prohibitive to just send your 636 00:38:43,640 --> 00:38:46,799 Speaker 1: satellite up. This would bring those costs way down. The 637 00:38:46,800 --> 00:38:49,640 Speaker 1: Phantom Express would include a space plane that would also 638 00:38:49,719 --> 00:38:52,160 Speaker 1: act like the booster rocket. It would send the craft 639 00:38:52,200 --> 00:38:55,000 Speaker 1: into space, but there would be on top on the 640 00:38:55,040 --> 00:38:58,000 Speaker 1: back of this space plane what would essentially look like 641 00:38:58,000 --> 00:39:01,960 Speaker 1: a secondary rocket. The payload would actually be attached to 642 00:39:02,080 --> 00:39:05,840 Speaker 1: this secondary rocket, and once it reached a certain altitude, 643 00:39:06,200 --> 00:39:10,040 Speaker 1: it would launch this secondary rocket off the back of 644 00:39:10,080 --> 00:39:13,239 Speaker 1: the space plane, and the secondary rocket would push the 645 00:39:13,280 --> 00:39:18,160 Speaker 1: payload into the proper orbit. Meanwhile, the space plane would decelerate, 646 00:39:18,280 --> 00:39:22,040 Speaker 1: reenter the air's atmosphere, and come back and land under 647 00:39:22,080 --> 00:39:24,560 Speaker 1: its own power, so it would be ready to use 648 00:39:25,160 --> 00:39:28,960 Speaker 1: right away. I don't know about the secondary rocket. I 649 00:39:29,000 --> 00:39:31,960 Speaker 1: honestly don't know if that's designed to be recoverable or not. 650 00:39:32,920 --> 00:39:36,400 Speaker 1: I would think it would be, but perhaps not it 651 00:39:36,480 --> 00:39:41,160 Speaker 1: maybe that that's just a one use only component. There 652 00:39:41,200 --> 00:39:44,240 Speaker 1: are several other space planes that are in various stages 653 00:39:44,239 --> 00:39:49,080 Speaker 1: of development. China. The air space program has several promising designs. UH. 654 00:39:49,160 --> 00:39:53,400 Speaker 1: There's another design called Black Ice for a private space plane. 655 00:39:53,760 --> 00:39:57,080 Speaker 1: This is a concept from Strato Launch Systems, which was 656 00:39:57,160 --> 00:40:00,920 Speaker 1: also founded by Paul Allen of Microsoft fame. The Black 657 00:40:00,960 --> 00:40:04,480 Speaker 1: Ice concept would launch from the largest airplane ever built, 658 00:40:05,040 --> 00:40:07,400 Speaker 1: the Strato Launch. I have to do a full episode 659 00:40:07,400 --> 00:40:09,839 Speaker 1: on Strate Launch at some point. The Strate Launch has 660 00:40:09,840 --> 00:40:12,720 Speaker 1: a wingspan of three five feet, which is a hundred 661 00:40:12,719 --> 00:40:17,160 Speaker 1: seventeen meters, and it has six bowing seven forty seven 662 00:40:17,200 --> 00:40:21,600 Speaker 1: engines that it uses to generate lift for flight. UH. 663 00:40:21,640 --> 00:40:24,040 Speaker 1: The Strato Launch or really to propel itself so that 664 00:40:24,560 --> 00:40:27,319 Speaker 1: creates enough lift for flight. I should say I was oversimplifying, 665 00:40:27,320 --> 00:40:29,840 Speaker 1: but the Strateo launch hasn't flown yet as of the 666 00:40:29,880 --> 00:40:34,040 Speaker 1: recording of this podcast. It has conducted some tests on 667 00:40:34,080 --> 00:40:38,160 Speaker 1: the ground, including a recent taxi test where it traveled 668 00:40:38,200 --> 00:40:40,560 Speaker 1: at eighty miles per hour down a runway. It would 669 00:40:40,560 --> 00:40:42,719 Speaker 1: need to travel at least a hundred forty miles per 670 00:40:42,760 --> 00:40:44,640 Speaker 1: hour in order for it to take off, but these 671 00:40:44,680 --> 00:40:47,239 Speaker 1: are early tests to make sure that the design of 672 00:40:47,280 --> 00:40:50,920 Speaker 1: the aircraft is sufficient so it will hold together. You 673 00:40:50,960 --> 00:40:53,480 Speaker 1: know it will, it will actually be stable. More tests 674 00:40:53,520 --> 00:40:55,759 Speaker 1: will follow, but the company does hope to reach the 675 00:40:55,760 --> 00:40:58,279 Speaker 1: point where the aircraft will fly and carry payloads by 676 00:40:58,320 --> 00:41:02,800 Speaker 1: twenty and there are lots of stories of failed projects. There's, 677 00:41:03,000 --> 00:41:06,040 Speaker 1: for example, the x Core links, which was supposed to 678 00:41:06,040 --> 00:41:09,120 Speaker 1: go for a test flight back in The company behind it, however, 679 00:41:09,160 --> 00:41:11,920 Speaker 1: went bankrupt and all of its assets were sold off. 680 00:41:11,960 --> 00:41:14,640 Speaker 1: But perhaps I'll go into more detail in those projects 681 00:41:14,640 --> 00:41:17,200 Speaker 1: in a future episode. I hope you guys enjoyed this 682 00:41:17,280 --> 00:41:20,640 Speaker 1: pair of episodes about space planes and our return to space. 683 00:41:21,000 --> 00:41:23,600 Speaker 1: It's not exactly the same thing as a full week 684 00:41:23,640 --> 00:41:26,600 Speaker 1: and a half of space related topics like the last time, 685 00:41:27,080 --> 00:41:30,360 Speaker 1: but I thought it was pretty interesting and obviously, creating 686 00:41:30,400 --> 00:41:35,280 Speaker 1: a reusable vehicle that can return under its own power 687 00:41:35,360 --> 00:41:37,560 Speaker 1: and be turned back around to fly again in a 688 00:41:37,640 --> 00:41:43,920 Speaker 1: short time frame would really transform the way we access 689 00:41:44,040 --> 00:41:48,400 Speaker 1: and utilize space, possibly for good, possibly for ill. But 690 00:41:48,600 --> 00:41:51,200 Speaker 1: it would definitely bring that price down, and maybe eventually 691 00:41:51,239 --> 00:41:53,440 Speaker 1: it would bring the brice down enough so that a 692 00:41:53,480 --> 00:41:56,760 Speaker 1: regular shmow such as myself might be able to afford 693 00:41:56,760 --> 00:42:00,400 Speaker 1: a ticket and and get up there and experience what 694 00:42:00,560 --> 00:42:03,919 Speaker 1: spaces like for even a short amount of time. Um 695 00:42:04,000 --> 00:42:07,600 Speaker 1: I would even take a parabolic flight where it's just 696 00:42:07,920 --> 00:42:12,000 Speaker 1: simulating micro gravity. I would do that if I could 697 00:42:12,680 --> 00:42:16,680 Speaker 1: hit me up. Guys anyway, if you would like to 698 00:42:16,760 --> 00:42:20,279 Speaker 1: contact me and let me know about a topic you 699 00:42:20,320 --> 00:42:22,120 Speaker 1: would like me to cover in a future episode of 700 00:42:22,120 --> 00:42:24,560 Speaker 1: tech Stuff, We've got a few ways you can do that. 701 00:42:24,719 --> 00:42:29,040 Speaker 1: One is brand new. We have a dedicated website for 702 00:42:29,280 --> 00:42:31,560 Speaker 1: tech Stuff. You can find it at the u r 703 00:42:31,719 --> 00:42:35,520 Speaker 1: L Text Stuff podcast dot com. It should be live 704 00:42:35,840 --> 00:42:38,200 Speaker 1: by the time you hear this, and they're going to 705 00:42:38,320 --> 00:42:41,880 Speaker 1: find all sorts of nifty stuff. They're including links to 706 00:42:42,000 --> 00:42:47,319 Speaker 1: ways to contact the show and links to the merchandise store. Uh, 707 00:42:47,400 --> 00:42:50,840 Speaker 1: you're gonna see a beautiful picture of me because Tari 708 00:42:50,920 --> 00:42:54,880 Speaker 1: made me send one to her and so I'm sorry, 709 00:42:55,280 --> 00:42:58,319 Speaker 1: but it's there, and you will find all the other 710 00:42:58,640 --> 00:43:02,080 Speaker 1: methods of contact, like the web, the email address which 711 00:43:02,120 --> 00:43:04,640 Speaker 1: is tech stuff at how stuff works dot com, and 712 00:43:04,760 --> 00:43:07,560 Speaker 1: the Facebook and Twitter links which is tech Stuff h 713 00:43:07,800 --> 00:43:11,920 Speaker 1: s W. And again, check out that store, see if 714 00:43:11,920 --> 00:43:14,319 Speaker 1: there's something you would like, because every purchase you make 715 00:43:14,440 --> 00:43:16,440 Speaker 1: goes to help the show and we greatly appreciate it. 716 00:43:16,960 --> 00:43:19,360 Speaker 1: And oh yeah, don't forget to follow us on Instagram 717 00:43:19,400 --> 00:43:27,480 Speaker 1: and I'll talk to you again really soon. For more 718 00:43:27,520 --> 00:43:30,160 Speaker 1: on this and thousands of other topics, visit how stuff 719 00:43:30,160 --> 00:43:40,719 Speaker 1: works dot com