British Skylon Engine Passes Its Tests 172
An anonymous reader writes "The BBC reports that the SABRE hybrid (part air-breathing jet, part rocket) that is intended to power the Skylon single-stage-to-orbit space plane has passed its final technical demonstration test, and is now looking for money (only £250m!) to prepare for manufacturing. If this goes ahead, travel into orbit from local airports (ideally, those close to the equator) will be possible. And quite cheaply. But might it have the same legal difficulties flying from U.S. airports as the Concorde did?"
Re:.mil only (Score:4, Insightful)
Things are disposable _because_ they can be made very cheaply. Not the other way, generally.
Re:Only £250m! (Score:5, Insightful)
Nothing odd about it. The USPTO would grant a patent on the look and feel of dog eggs as trade dress if it were submitted.
A chimp flinging turds with 'Approved' printed on them would be a better and more selective system.
Re:Misleading Title (Score:4, Insightful)
Hmmm, let's think. A space plane fueled by liquid hydrogen. Very cold liquid hydrogen. And lots of it. I wonder what they could use to cool the incoming air?
You mean Russia? (Score:4, Insightful)
Far from advising xenophobia, I'd still like to point out that US is a fucking big country. Most people in Europe, for example, have no idea what a "fucking big country" is.
You mean like Russia that is actually in Europe (at least the part that fits given that it is so large it spreads over two continents), contains 10 time zones, and has a land area almost twice that of the US?