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On Sept. 17 1976 the space shuttle Enterprise OV-101 first rolled out of its assembly plant. She was originally to be named Constitution, but a Star Trek fan campaign convinced President Ford & NASA to make the change.
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Dr. Mordrid
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An elephant is a mouse built to government specifications.
I carry a gun because I can't throw a rock 1,250 fps -
Been that long. I guess that's why they are becoming technological dinosaurs. Hopefully something new and more reusable comes along soon . Would be nice if they could dispense with the launch rocket completely..paulw -
Can't get rid of rockets entirely as you need them for the orbital or trans-lunar/planetary burn where there is no air for air breathers.
Might minimize their use with coaxial powerplants; a core turbofan for taking off, a surrounding ramjet for gaining speed and a LOX breathing "rocket mode" for orbital insertion. A few outfits are working on those.
Also might use this to power a reusable mothership (AirLaunch) who would carry the vehicle to high altitude/speed where it would fire its own insertion rockets. The mothership then returns to Earth for re-use. It could be manned or more likely a drone.
Not as outlandish as it seems as the SR-71 Blackbird used a turbojet whose bypass was used as a ramjet at high speed. Now you know why it was so fast
Boeings concept for 3-stage AirLaunch = 747 to drone to spacecraft
Last edited by Dr Mordrid; 18 September 2009, 06:06.Dr. Mordrid
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An elephant is a mouse built to government specifications.
I carry a gun because I can't throw a rock 1,250 fpsComment
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Naming it Constitution would have been fine. The Starship Enterprise was a Constitution-class ship. That would have made the second orbiter Enterprise. And that would have been the one to pile it in over Texas.
So technically I guess that makes the space shuttle an Enterprise-class ship.
The whole damned universe is waiting for us to invent Antigravity!Would be nice if they could dispense with the launch rocket completely..
KevinComment
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Following Navy naming conventions that's correct, but it's not a Navy ship. Also; by the time of the 'change' the others had already been named.Dr. Mordrid
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An elephant is a mouse built to government specifications.
I carry a gun because I can't throw a rock 1,250 fpsComment
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The whole damned universe is afraid we will actually invent antigravityOriginally posted by KRSESQ View Post
The whole damned universe is waiting for us to invent Antigravity!
Kevin
Most us here on earth just want it for the cool aspects forgetting the complete ramifications
If there's artificial intelligence, there's bound to be some artificial stupidity.
Jeremy Clarkson "806 brake horsepower..and that on that limp wrist faerie liquid the Americans call petrol, if you run it on the more explosive jungle juice we have in Europe you'd be getting 850 brake horsepower..."Comment
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