dc0de wrote:

Jello wrote:

dc0de wrote:

Jello wrote:

Today has just been insanely busy (which is why I'm not in L.A. for the announcement), and this is my first spare moment at my desk, but a lot of people have noticed that XCOR made the Drudge Report today! I've also been told via Twitter that we were on CNBC.

So, finally, we're able to talk about the Air Force contract and the Lynx spaceplane.

If a picture is worth 1000 words, what is a video worth?

Nice animation.

However, there are a "few" things missing.
1. The craft seemed to "fly" in space. There is no air for the control surfaces, and therefore the rolling, pitching, and yaw control would have to be rocket assisted.
2. None of the above mentioned controls were visible in this animation

I hope that we'll see a truer to life version soon... with a re-entry video as well.

Good Luck!

I assume on such a small vehicle they can just release compressed gas from vents, that they don't even need combustion? Is that not the case?

It completely depends on the weight of the vehicle, the mass dispersal of whatever compressed gas they use, vs. rocket usage, and what makes the most sense. I can say that if I was going to be on board, I would prefer that there are actual rockets, since 1 "unit" of rocket fuel will go much farther than 1 "unit" of compressed gas. This would allow for unforeseen maneuvering needs, and since it is Space Flight, we know that unforeseen things happen.

Well I imagine the vehicle is really light, from the video, which is why I thought compressed gas might make sense. I wonder if its possible to use vectored thrust from the main engines as the only control mechanism, provided you keep moving forward a bit?

RE: Academic VC: XCOR announces Lynx spaceplane