Inuyasha wrote:
psychohist wrote:
Inuyasha wrote:
They were actually thinking of launching shuttles off of airplanes for a while but finally figured it was a bad idea.
Indeed - quite possibly a mistake as Space Ship One launched off an airplane and Space Ship Two will too.
Actually I've been surprised there hasn't been an accident from that. Launching a spacecraft off an airplane is extremely dangerous in the fact it can get both the crew of the spaceship and the airplane killed.
The advantage to this however is that one doesn't need as much fuel to actually get to a stable orbit.
how dangerous it is has nothing to do with how many people are at risk.
i think you will find that any technology used to launch the apollo missions were a lot worse with regards to safety.
that being said safety has always been a big concern in the space industry, there is a reason the navcoms on the shuttles still use IC's from the eighties, they have been proven to work under those conditions (i think they were modified for this specific purpose i dont know)
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//through chaos comes complexity//
the scent of the tamarillo is pungent and powerfull,
woe be to the nose who nears it.