From: henry@spsystems.net   
      
   In article <20040720181246.29796.00001674@mb-m18.aol.com>,   
   Allen Meece  wrote:   
   >   The orbiter's angle of attack is upward so the thin air compresses under   
   the   
   >Vee-shaped ship and raises its altitude. The higher it goes, the thinner the   
   >air and the less the drag and the faster it goes. Repeat until orbit is   
   >reached.   
   >   This is not rocket science, it is high altitude aerodynamics.   
      
   Yes, and we know how high-altitude aerodynamics works, and it's not good   
   enough.  When you start looking at numbers, not just handwaving about "the   
   less the drag", they appear to need a positively miraculous L/D ratio to   
   make this thing work as described, and there's no hint of how they could   
   possibly do that.   
      
   It remains possible that they have some clever trick in mind.  But "you   
   just kinda float up and then start accelerating slowly" is nowhere near   
   clever enough.   
   --   
   "Think outside the box -- the box isn't our friend."    |   Henry Spencer   
                                   -- George Herbert       | henry@spsystems.net   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
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