Blue Origin - launch, seperation and vertical landing

[Toaster]

Eric Mc said:

I wasn't talking about Blue Origin specifically or their economics. I assumed the question was a general one about how long it took to get a pad back into action again. I know back in the mid 1960s, NASA was able to get their Titan Pad back up and working within a couple of days after Gemini 6 failed to launch - even though the rocket engines had been running a for a few seconds and various pyrotechnic devices etc had fired.

Normally there is a gap of a few months between successive firings from a launch pad.

I wasn't for one moment assuming that Blue Origin would be making daily launches from one pad.

Thats where a step change in technology like Sabre would win

[Eric Mc]

Absolutely.

But it's a while away yet. As I said earlier (although you tried to shoot me down on this), Sabre/Skylon does indeed need a lot more funding. I know they have received a boost recently but they could do with a lot more.

I'm sure it's where the genuine future of achieving orbit lies.

Maybe they should be trying to soft soap Elon Musk?

[Toaster]

Eric Mc said:

Absolutely.

But it's a while away yet. As I said earlier (although you tried to shoot me down on this), Sabre/Skylon does indeed need a lot more funding. I know they have received a boost recently but they could do with a lot more.

I'm sure it's where the genuine future of achieving orbit lies.

Maybe they should be trying to soft soap Elon Musk?

Soft soap Mr Musk ah you mean give more British tech to the Americans it would be nice to see we develop a technology rather then selling it short there is so much we have sold or given away in the past

[tapkaJohnD]

I'd rather be in the booster on landing than the capsule!
The second seemed to land a lot harder.

John

[Eric Mc]

Toaster said:

Soft soap Mr Musk ah you mean give more British tech to the Americans it would be nice to see we develop a technology rather then selling it short there is so much we have sold or given away in the past

It would be nice if Britain could go it alone in such a project - but it can't. Some of the money Bond has had already came from foreign sources (he told me this himself). He wouldn't, of course, reveal who these investors were.

[Eric Mc]

tapkaJohnD said:

I'd rather be in the booster on landing than the capsule!
The second seemed to land a lot harder.

John

Does the capsule fire rockets at the last second to cushion the landing? The Soyuz capsule has used this type of system quite successfully for decades.

[essayer]

65 years later, Professor Calculus' design finally implemented

[Toaster]

Eric Mc said:

It would be nice if Britain could go it alone in such a project - but it can't. Some of the money Bond has had already came from foreign sources (he told me this himself). He wouldn't, of course, reveal who these investors were.

It's one thing having foreign investment and that investment does not mean IPR is given away, pension funds etc will invest in many projects but do not demand ownership of a technology but are interested in a return on any money invested. I suspect that BAE with its many investors would need an understanding of the intellectual capital and possibly some ownership of any more that comes with their money.

[Eric Mc]

Presume away.

[Toaster]

Eric Mc said:

Presume away.

Ah I see, but it was you that stated:

"At that time they were reluctant to reveal too much because it has since been disclosed by Bond that they ran into Official Secrets Act problems following their original British Aerospace involvement in HOTOL".

So if the technology is covered as you say by Official secrets, then any IPR that is shared would be restricted, which may or may not be foreign interests. Typically it would be limited to western organisations such as the European Space Agency and partners and possibly the americans. But that doesn't mean other countries can just use the technology.

So I'm not presuming as much as you may think......

Just look at the make up of the board http://www.reactionengines.co.uk/about_management....

[Eric Mc]

Toaster said:

Ah I see, but it was you that stated:
So I'm not presuming as much as you may think......

How do you know what I am thinking?

Are you a mind reader?

Are you presuming what I think as well?

[Toaster]

Eric Mc said:

Toaster said:

Ah I see, but it was you that stated:
So I'm not presuming as much as you may think......

How do you know what I am thinking?

I don't and have no desire to, but you did make the Official Secrets act statment therefore any company that has to abide by that is limited in who they can share information

Eric Mc said:

Are you a mind reader?

Its a dark art and someone has to do it

Eric Mc said:

Are you presuming what I think as well?

Well we all do this Eric its called communication, a person says something (transmitter) and the other person (Receiver) hears/sees what is said interprets it and responds.

I guess we are all guilty of presuming and mind reading it does make things far more exciting and interesting

[Toaster]

Eric Mc said:

Does the capsule fire rockets at the last second to cushion the landing? The Soyuz capsule has used this type of system quite successfully for decades.

Good Guess Eric, although it still didn't look smooth

"A CLASSIC PARACHUTE LANDING
The crew capsule descends under parachutes for a smooth landing, in the same way as the earliest space pioneers. Three independent parachutes provide redundancy, while a retro-thrust system further cushions your landing."

https://www.blueorigin.com/technology

[Toaster]

essayer said:

65 years later, Professor Calculus' design finally implemented

That rocket design is Sooooo cool I have one in my study alongside some working rockets I made......I will get my coat now

[Eric Mc]

I've always liked this one -

[MartG]

Eric Mc said:

I've always liked this one -

Classic von Braun/Colliers

[Eric Mc]

When I was a kid, my local library had a book called "You Will Go to the Moon". It was aimed at young readers and the artwork was obviously heavily inspired by the Colliers articles. I loved it when I was 6 -

[MartG]

Onboard video from the recent test flight

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNPpdHYD8jo&fe...

Note how the paint on the underside of the ring fin goes brown - I wonder if that's due to re-entry heating or engine exhaust deposits

[Eric Mc]

What's the maximum speed it reaches before the braking rockets are fired? I wouldn't have expected aerodynamic heating would be high enough to char the paint.

[IanCress]

Wow, that doesn't half come down quickly.

Am I right in thinking that just after the start of the video it's 60 miles high, and at the 2 minute point it's virtually on the ground, therefore it has averaged 30 miles a minute, or 1800mph?