Space/Science — HabitableZone

Space/Science » in reply to Difficulty of space travel

re: Difficulty of space travel
gbaikie — (archived)

"Likewise, Spaceship Two won't have anywhere near the flight rate or safety margin of a Learjet. And as Nick points out, the leap from Spaceship Two to orbit is huge -- it's closer to the Lear than the Shuttle. "

I think SpaceShipTwo could be quite good, but what about
SpaceShipThree and Four?

The point missed is SpaceShipTwo is/has developed a market. This market is still immature- but wait until it gets more mature.

With SpaceShipTwo think:
"The Ford Trimotor (also variously identified as the "Tri-Motor", and nicknamed "The Tin Goose") was an American three engine civil transport aircraft first produced in 1925 by Henry Ford and continued in production until 7 June 1933. Throughout its lifespan a total of 199 aircraft were produced.[1] It was popular with the military and was sold all over the world. Unlike his famous Ford Model T cars, trucks and farm tractors, Ford did not make the engines for these aircraft."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Tri-Motor
Ford Tri-Motor 4-AT-E Specifications:
Normal Cruise 90 mph

Range 500 miles

Price At Factory $42,000.

Compare:
Boeing 787 Dreamliner
Cruise speed Mach 0.85 (903 km/h, 561 mph
Range: 2,500 – 3,050 NM [or 7,650 – 8,200 NM or 8,000 – 8,500 NM]
Unit cost 787-3: US$146–151.5 million

So,yeah, it's going to take awhile to get the SpaceShip[number] that is going to like the Dreamliner
but a DC-3 won't be too far into the future.

Branson is taking a risk, but once he has done it, you will
get more people less bold who will invest in this sort of thing. The SpaceShipTwo has to be made relatively cheap, later versions could cost 2, 3, and 10 times as much, but also be much more capable.

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