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Skylon spacecraft: 'Revolutionary' engine


Still Waters

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British scientists and engineers have begun testing an experiemental technology which they say could be the future of space travel.

The Skylon spacecraft is designed to fly from runway to orbit in a single stage, to be completely reuseable and with no need for a pilot.

The key to the project is an engine designed to operate as both a jet and rocket motor with a specially-designed cooling system.

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As this team is based at Culham, this is very much local interest; though the ideas have been evolved over a number of years by Alan Bond since the HOTOL designs from the mid-80s.

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  • 7 months later...
The Skylon, a concept spaceplane that (theoretically) could go from a standing start to orbit and back without disposing of any rocket stages, took another big step forward today as tests independently audited by the European Space Agency confirmed that the Sabre engine underpinning it is conceptually sound. It’s the second key endorsement from the ESA that Skylon and the Sabre engine have picked up in the past two years--giving Sabre-maker Reaction Engines cause to call its technology the biggest engine breakthrough since the jet.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/11/28/uk-science-spaceplane-idUKBRE8AR0R520121128

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Jet lag would be horrible I bet :) Imagine breakfast in Sydney, lunch in NY and tea in Tokyo.... And on to Buenos Aires for a little night life that evening!

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Yeah, I thought things would be a lot different by now.

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Cool. As an engineer, it will be interesting to eventually see how they have solved the problems they say they have.
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This technology is long overdue for the space program this beats the pants off the space shuttle. Wish we had this long before the space program would way ahead by now.

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I'm sure they're using some advanced engine technology in secret and have been for decades.

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I'm sure they're using some advanced engine technology in secret and have been for decades.

No good keeping it secret - who benefits from your tax dollar??

What I find really exciting about this project - and I have been following it for some years - is that it will get into the Public Domain and therefore everyone gets the benefit. It would put ESA (European Space Agency ) a decade at least ahead of all the other Space Agencies.

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'As I see it': It looks as tho' this could be a short term fix for the antiquated capitalist driven airline industry, but (yawn) is merely a tail-chasing odyssey for any type of comprehensive space travel, probably sponsored by BP. This is an electric universe.

“Fossil fuels will make fossils of us all”

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No good keeping it secret - who benefits from your tax dollar??

What I find really exciting about this project - and I have been following it for some years - is that it will get into the Public Domain and therefore everyone gets the benefit. It would put ESA (European Space Agency ) a decade at least ahead of all the other Space Agencies.

Those triangle craft that have been spotted in the night sky (running silent) are using some kind of propulsion.

I believe they are earthly and not ET.

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Those triangle craft that have been spotted in the night sky (running silent) are using some kind of propulsion.

I believe they are earthly and not ET.

I wouldnt jump to that conclusion as quickly Mag357 believe me That Saber engine designed by Richard Varvill will be on loud power plant ! No Black Trangle`s that fly with total silence are not of this world ! of Government BLK opp`s program. :alien::no:

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I wouldnt jump to that conclusion as quickly Mag357 believe me That Saber engine designed by Richard Varvill will be on loud power plant ! No Black Trangle`s that fly with total silence are not of this world ! of Government BLK opp`s program. :alien::no:

Well, I'm open minded about the UFO phenomena and not a quick debunker like some. But with the B2 and F117 being triangle in shape would lead me to believe that

these other triangle craft could be secret military. The military is decades ahead in technology then what we have commercially. They could very well have developed

an engine that runs silent. (electromagnetic possibly) Now as for the saucer shaped craft, they are a mystery since they were seen in the skys in the 1940's.

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i am sure the US black projects know whats up with this stuff, after all they had the sr-71 designed in the late 50's.

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Doesn't matter, the boys from Warehouse 13 are going to be coming around pretty soon to take this technology into custody.

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nice!!!

im too slow in engines but its nice to read that they will cool down the engine without clogging it.. nice!!

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Now all you'd have to do is figure out the whole light-speed, hyperspace, slip-space, and warp-speed thing.

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LoL -M7 ! Light speed and FTL speeds are almost like the wet dream in all like minded tech-geeks ! THe Saber engine is only a slight step in the need for Speed !

We will indeed need a quantum Leap to get any where near 1/2 the speed of light ! Until then Keep Looking Up ! :tsu:

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THe Saber engine is only a slight step in the need for Speed !

The Sabre engine isn't a step at all in the need for speed. It is a fairly large step in the direction of cheap and easy access to low Earth orbit. If it works it will open up LEO in the way that the Shuttle was supposed to do.

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  • 4 weeks later...

The Sabre engine isn't a step at all in the need for speed. It is a fairly large step in the direction of cheap and easy access to low Earth orbit. If it works it will open up LEO in the way that the Shuttle was supposed to do.

You call it what you See it Waspie ! ITs a step in the right direction !

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When will these people learn how to fly...... into deep space, the way it should?

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When will these people learn how to fly...... into deep space, the way it should?

I'm not sure what you are getting at here, your post doesn't seem to make much sense, given the context of this thread. What do you mean "how it should?"

To repeat a point though, these engines are not for deep space, they are fore getting into orbit more cheaply and efficiently than any current rocket engine. They are air breathing, which means they are not suitable for deep space.

However any vehicle which is going to travel in deep space is going to need to get into orbit first.

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However any vehicle which is going to travel in deep space is going to need to get into orbit first.

That made me think of building vehicles in orbit, and... that would require something like a Beanstalk. I thought there were plans to build one, but I've not seen anything about it in a long time.

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