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#Post#: 7251--------------------------------------------------
Aircraft for launching space vehicles
DIR By: AGelbert
Date: June 1, 2017, 4:52 pm
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[center]World's largest airplane rolled out for the first
time[/center]
Even if you had been allowed to kick the tires as the world's
largest airplane was rolled out for the first time Wednesday, it
might have taken you a while.
Stratolaunch -- which is designed to release rockets that will
carry satellites into space -- has a 385-foot wingspan, features
six engines used by the Boeing 747, stands 50 feet tall and can
carry more than 500,000 pounds of payload.
And it has those 28 wheels. :o ;D
The twin-fuselage aircraft, the baby of Microsoft co-founder
Paul Allen, was pulled out of its Mojave Air and Space Port
hangar in California to begin fueling tests -- the first of many
ground tests.
Jean Floyd, Stratolaunch's chief executive officer, said the
goal is to have a launch demonstration as early as 2019.
[center]
HTML http://i2.cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/170531200720-04-stratolaunch-exlarge-169.jpg[/center]
"Over the coming weeks and months, we'll be actively conducting
ground and flight line testing at the Mojave Air and Space
Port," Floyd said in a statement. "This is a first-of-its-kind
aircraft, so we're going to be diligent throughout testing and
continue to prioritize the safety of our pilots, crew and
staff."
[center]
HTML http://i2.cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/161231191338-antonov-an-225-jnd-exlarge-169.jpg[/center]
[center]The Ukrainian-built Antonov An-225 is longer than the
Stratolaunch. [/center]
While the Stratolaunch has the biggest wingspan, the six-engine
Antonov An-225 cargo jet -- which was originally designed to
carry a Soviet version of the space shuttle -- is longer.
Stratolaunch is 238 feet long while the length of the An-225 is
about 275 feet.
[center]
HTML http://i2.cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/120613082406-spruce-goose-evergreen-aviation-and-space-museum-horizontal-large-gallery.jpg[/center]
[center]Also, aviation mogul Howard Hughes' legendary H-4
"Spruce Goose," which flew only once in 1947, has an enormous
wingspan of 320 feet -- not as wide as the Stratolaunch.
[/center]
Allen, owner of the NBA's Portland Trail Blazers and the NFL's
Seattle Seahawks, has written about his desire to see more use
of low Earth orbit without breaking the bank.
"With aircraft-like operations, our reusable launch platform
will significantly reduce the long wait times traditionally
experienced between the construction of a satellite and the
opportunity to launch it into space," he wrote last year.
Stratolaunch will take off from a runway. It will fly to the
approximate cruising altitude of a commercial airliner before
launching a launch vehicle. "As the launch vehicle rockets into
orbit, Stratolaunch will fly back to a runway landing for
reloading, refueling and reuse," Allen says.
[center]
HTML http://i2.cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/170531200710-03-stratolaunch-exlarge-169.jpg[/center]
Allen's Vulcan Aerospace has worked with aerospace pioneer Burt
Rutan's company, Scaled Composites, on the ambitious project.
The duo collaborated on the launch of SpaceShipOne in 2004.
Allen isn't the only US billionaire with the dreams and pockets
big enough to take on space.
Jeff Bezos, the Amazon CEO, and Elon Musk, the Tesla and SpaceX
CEO, have distinguished themselves as the must-watch innovators
pushing hardest to bring the future to us today.
In late March, SpaceX made history by successfully launching a
used rocket into space. And the company plans to fly two
customers around the moon in 2018. It's already delivered
satellites and has made resupply trips to the International
Space Station.
Like Musk, Bezos wants to reuse rockets to drive down the cost
of space travel. But for the time being, Blue Origin is mostly
interested in conducting suborbital flights for tourists.
HTML http://edition.cnn.com/2017/05/31/us/worlds-largest-airplane-rolled-out-paul-allen/index.html
HTML http://edition.cnn.com/2017/05/31/us/worlds-largest-airplane-rolled-out-paul-allen/index.html
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