Quote:
Originally Posted by kinetic
"You can't hide a space launch," Payton said. "The main thing we want to emphasize is the vehicle itself, not so much what's going on during the on-orbit experimental phase. The vehicle itself is the piece of news here."
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LOL Steve....yeah, juuuuuust in case we have a technical hitch.
The airframe itself isn't much of a milestone. What grabs me is that this thing will need to perform a good portion (perhaps all) of its re-entry/landing phase functions autonomously. Just like the launch and orbital insertion phase.
However, the savings made by not taking a crew (environmental control systems, crew O2, food, crew space, cockpit display and controls etc-etc) into orbit must be enormous in regards to increases in payload to vehicle all-up weight. Not to mention complexity and operational costs.
This thing's not very big at all, but I can easily envisage a vehicle 3 to 4 times its size carrying anything the Shuttle could. Robotic arms can be remotely controlled from Earth etc.