Future tense

[davekill]

In the early days of the space race, we where still trying to launch satellites and movies featured cigar shaped Moon Rockets with big fins.

I came across this amazing illustration of a kids book published in 1959.
This one predicted an almost perfect space shuttle configuration!

[Rico]

Love these old book covers.  Awesome stuff!

[psikeyhackr]

very X-15



Introduced September 1959.

psik

[Meds]

Awesome art work. I'd like to have those framed.

[davekill]

very X-15



Introduced September 1959.

psik

Good eye - I recognize the X-15 now.

My question is if the X- planes proved we could fly into orbit, why keep blasting off straight up?
Is it that they still can't fly high enough to achieve a sustainable free-fall?

I read that the Space Shuttle had carried extra large fuel loads to extend it's limit to park the Hubble telescope at 372.8 miles (600 km) . The highest flying airplane (U-2) only reaches 13 miles.

[Rico]

Didn't some of the X-series planes need to be taken up under the wing of another plane?  I thought they still needed a boost since they couldn't hold enough fuel to get into low orbit.

[Bromptonboy]

Didn't some of the X-series planes need to be taken up under the wing of another plane?  I thought they still needed a boost since they couldn't hold enough fuel to get into low orbit.

Yes indeed they did.

[Rico]

A quick Google image search later.....

[billybob476]

I was under the impression they did that because while it looks like a jet, the X-15 actually had a rocket engine, didn't it?

[Rico]

In a way, yes.  But it's still an issue of fuel consumption needed to hit orbit.  In the pic, the B-52 is towing the X-15 up quite high and then they release it allowing the X-15 engines to kick in.  See pic below...

[billybob476]

Yeah that's what I mean. Rocket engines use fuel at a prodigious rate, while I'm certain the engine provides enough thrust to get the plane off the ground, it would certainly eat up a huge chunk of fuel. I'm not even sure the X-15 had very much powered flight time even when it was launched from the B-52. That plane was likely mostly engine and fuel tank with some control surfaces tacked on.

Mike can probably speak with a bit more authority then I can.

[Bryancd]

Yeah, it was all rocket and a little bit plane. It was never designed for verticle rocket assisted ground based lanching or traditional takeoff.

[Rico]

Yeah that's what I mean. Rocket engines use fuel at a prodigious rate, while I'm certain the engine provides enough thrust to get the plane off the ground, it would certainly eat up a huge chunk of fuel. I'm not even sure the X-15 had very much powered flight time even when it was launched from the B-52. That plane was likely mostly engine and fuel tank with some control surfaces tacked on.

Mike can probably speak with a bit more authority then I can.

Yes, true.  But it needed that kind of thrust to escape that little problem of gravity we have.  ;)

[billybob476]

Exactly, that's why they launched it from the B-52. I'm sure it was capable of a rolling takeoff, though with a little bitty wingspan like it had it would probably need quite the takeoff roll and would waste the bulk of its fuel thereby not leaving enough to do what it needed.

[Bryancd]

Exactly, that's why they launched it from the B-52. I'm sure it was capable of a rolling takeoff, though with a little bitty wingspan like it had it would probably need quite the takeoff roll and would waste the bulk of its fuel thereby not leaving enough to do what it needed.

No way those wings could generate enough lift to get that off the ground in a conventional manner especially considering it's likely fuel weight at takeoff. And then once in low Earth orbit, wings big enough to create lift become drag and don't work at all. That's why that Spaceship One test platform a few year ago also required a separate lifting vehicle. The wings were simply there for attitude control during a gliding, non-powered decent, just like the shuttle. The hardest part of getting into low Earth orbit is the first 40,000 feet or so, that's the b#tch of the bunch, so to speak. :)