PlanetSpace "Silver Dart"

[Dr Mordrid]

http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/051215_planetspace_silverdart.html

Based on the U.S. Air Force’s Flight Dynamics Laboratory-7 (FDL-7) program, the Silver Dart is a lifting body designed to glide from hypersonic speeds of Mach 22 down to landing, PlanetSpace officials said. The spacecraft is expected to launch vertical atop a stack of about 10 Canadian Arrow rocket engines and land horizontally on an aircraft runway, they added.

NASA deciding to purchase space on private vehicles has really started something....

Dr. Mordrid

[Tjalfe]

.. but where is the washroom in that beast?

[Elie]

each seat will have a funnel attached to a hose back into a septic tank which is ejected into space

[Jon P. Inghram]

A Cobra Mk. III would blow it out of the sky without breaking a sweat I'd think...

[Mcollector]

...
NASA deciding to purchase space on private vehicles has really started something....

Better than putting it on Chinese rockets, where they'll just steal our technology anyway and we give them the rope to hang us.

[Mcollector]

each seat will have a funnel attached to a hose back into a septic tank which is ejected into space

Into a decaying orbit, I guess. Gives new meaning to the "well shit on me" expression.

[gt40]

looks like a glorified paper airplane

[KRSESQ]

looks suspiciously like a vehicle I designed in second grade (1966 or therabouts), although mine was launched by means of massive springs because I didn't know how to make the fire come out the back.

I thought it was quite innovative. Zero pollution!

Kevin

[Jon P. Inghram]

I wonder what materials they plan on using to keep those nice sharp edges and fins from melting off at hypersonic speeds?

[GNEP]

A Cobra Mk. III would blow it out of the sky without breaking a sweat I'd think...

Y'know, I think it's got a bit of a Fer-de-Lance look to it, so yeah, you're probably right

[Dr Mordrid]

The Silver Dart is based on the black projects FDL-5, FDL-7 and FDL-8 (FDL = USAF Flight Dynamics Laboratory);

FDL-5;



This guy has made FDL-5 models that he claims are 95% accurate and show the retractable wings/fins and drop-tanks;

http://www.ninfinger.org/~sven/models/stratosphere/fdl5_announce.html

Can't find images of the FDL-7/8

They were prototype hypersonic spaceplane designs from the 60's and early '70's, all sucessors to the X-15 and predecessors to the X-24 B;



Yet another of the designs NASA should have pursued but didn't(?). Instead NASA used the data to further the Space Shuttle project. Some think it was further developed, evolving into what has come to be known as Aurora.

Dr. Mordrid

[Nowhere]

I still wonder what would be the outcome of Soyuz entering the competition (as I understand, NASA perhaps will do typical open "bid"?). Wonder how cheap they're now...

[Dr Mordrid]

That or "Kliper" (aka: Clipper), a small spaceplane Russia is developing;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kliper

They haven't had much luck getting the EU to help with the financing, so now they're pursuing the Japanese.

Dr. Mordrid