New engine design allows airplanes to reach orbit - in theory.

[Mr. A]

The European Space Agency approves the design and greenlights the next phase of the project:

The proposed Skylon vehicle would do the job of a big rocket but operate like an airliner, taking off and landing at a conventional runway.
The European Space Agency's propulsion experts have assessed the details of the concept and found no showstoppers.
They want the next phase of development to include a ground demonstration of its key innovation - its Sabre engine.
This power unit is designed to breathe oxygen from the air in the early phases of flight - just like jet engines - before switching to full rocket mode as the Skylon vehicle climbs out of the atmosphere.
It is the spaceplane's "single-stage-to-orbit" operation and its re-usability that makes Skylon such an enticing prospect and one that could substantially reduce the cost of space activity, say its proponents.

more...

The Sabre engine:


Cool stuff!

Entire article: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-13506289

 

[EvilSpaceAlien]

I think I need to paraphrase a great man know as O'Neill to truly describe what I feel when I read about this fascinating new engine.

"Sweet."

 

[mzzz]

How much?

 

[Mr. A]

How much?

How much what?

 

[Overmind One]

The European Space Agency approves the design and greenlights the next phase of the project:

The Sabre engine:
View attachment 4431

Cool stuff!

Entire article: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-13506289

Droooool.....

This is the missing component. If it can do what it intends to do at a reasonable cost (relative to rocket launch costs), we will need a MUCH larger space station, preferably privately owned and not under the auspices of governments or militaries. It's not too much of a stretch after that to envision waypoints to Mars perhaps by having a station at the La Grange point between Earth and Mars? This is EXCITING!

 

[Gatefan1976]

Droooool.....

This is the missing component. If it can do what it intends to do at a reasonable cost (relative to rocket launch costs), we will need a MUCH larger space station, preferably privately owned and not under the auspices of governments or militaries. It's not too much of a stretch after that to envision waypoints to Mars perhaps by having a station at the La Grange point between Earth and Mars? This is EXCITING!

Indeed, This is the kind of stuff that can bring Scifi back into mainstream culture and re-ignite our desire to really see whats out there.
I seriously squee over stuff like this

 

[Graybrew1]

How much what?

A ticket on it?

 

[Backstep]

Getting to the level of a true spaceplane, now just need fix the problems with the cold plasma and magnetic containment and we have shields

 

[Rac80]

Indeed, This is the kind of stuff that can bring Scifi back into mainstream culture and re-ignite our desire to really see whats out there.
I seriously squee over stuff like this

double squee here!

 

[Gatefan1976]

double squee here!

Heheehee

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNEy5Zfy1HA

 

[mzzz]

Opportunities opening up in space, space stuff not so dead now, what has NASA been doing lately? lol, article reminds me of that Iron Man scene where he goes how did you solve your icing problem?

 

[Lilith]

Isn't our equivant to be ready in 2012? I recently watched The Right Stuff and they had projected the retiring of the space shuttles and a newer verison to be ready by 2012.

My cousin works for NASA, I'll ask him. He works on the development of the spacesuits in Houston. Been there 20 years, man great career move when he got a mechanical degree and a petroleum engineering degree.

 

[Rac80]

Opportunities opening up in space, space stuff not so dead now, what has NASA been doing lately? lol, article reminds me of that Iron Man scene where he goes how did you solve your icing problem?

Isn't our equivant to be ready in 2012? I recently watched The Right Stuff and they had projected the retiring of the space shuttles and a newer verison to be ready by 2012.

My cousin works for NASA, I'll ask him. He works on the development of the spacesuits in Houston. Been there 20 years, man great career move when he got a mechanical degree and a petroleum engineering degree.

nasa isn't doing anything...massive budget cuts...short sighted congress! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA_Budget

 

[Lilith]

I'm sure I could find plenty to cut. Like the 500 million they give to Harvard in grants.

 

[Rac80]

I'm sure I could find plenty to cut. Like the 500 million they give to Harvard in grants.

don't get me started on gov't grants for research-- cow flatulance (that's farting for you ape ) to discover why politicians are vague , to study internet dating , and to study the male prostiutes of Vietnam in their natural setting . Give me a break! here's a link to Sen. Coburn's Wastebook----http://coburn.senate.gov/public//index.cfm?a=Files.Serve&File_id=774a6cca-18fa-4619-987b-a15eb44e7f18

 

[Mr. A]

Guys, this is a Science and Tech News thread - let's please keep politics out of this one.

 

[mzzz]

Guys, this is a Science and Tech News thread - let's please keep politics out of this one.

They usually go hand in hand though. We can't go off to not so tangential tangents? I mean if it's strictly just a news thread, then it can just be a sort of closed thread where one just posts the articles. Isn't the point to incite discussion though?

 

[Mr. A]

They usually go hand in hand though. We can't go off to not so tangential tangents? I mean if it's strictly just a news thread, then it can just be a sort of closed thread where one just posts the articles. Isn't the point to incite discussion though?

That is a good point. Of course tangents are always allowed and welcome.
That was just an appeal to prevent this thread from turning into the umpteenth one on Big Gov vs Small Gov, Current Administration vs Previous Administration, Democrats vs Republicans... and finally landing in Area 51.
NASA's budget and why it is getting smaller is a good and valid subject, even though we already have a thread on that and this article is actually about a project being supported by the ESA...

 

[Graybrew1]

That is a good point. Of course tangents are always allowed and welcome.
That was just an appeal to prevent this thread from turning into the umpteenth one on Big Gov vs Small Gov, Current Administration vs Previous Administration, Democrats vs Republicans... and finally landing in Area 51.
NASA's budget and why it is getting smaller is a good and valid subject, even though we already have a thread on that and this article is actually about a project being supported by the ESA...

I agree. I think we have more than a few Political threads already going on.

 

[Mr. A]

NASA and US politics are relevant to this topic, but when we start going into which politician spent, didn't spend or misspent how much on what elsewhere, we move too far from the original subject.


Back on topic, the truth is NASA doesn't have funds to innovate in space, ESA doesn't want to, and the only ones who have funds and want to - the Chinese - are too far behind technologically to do anything interesting at the moment imo.
So we start seeing such ideas as this new engine. I think the major challenge is, as explained in the article, to cool down air thousands of degrees in a fraction of a second. ESA says it believes the designer's claim, I am skeptical.
And looking at the design as an engineer I have to ask: wouldn't it be a lot easier to have a rocket-plane with just two different engines (one for the atmosphere and one for space) on board? If weight is a problem, why not just drop the air-breathing engine to be recovered via parachute when the airplane achieves a certain altitude? That would eliminate all the technical difficulties involved with this engine...