[AR] Re: Ozone layer was Re: Removing Coking Deposits
- From: Henry Spencer <hspencer@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: arocket@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 27 Sep 2016 15:41:24 -0400 (EDT)
On Tue, 27 Sep 2016, qbert@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
Actually the X15 did do just over Mach 6 and in the nether regions used
a RCS for attitude control.
Correct, but the two did not happen simultaneously, or even on the same
flight. The high-speed flights were all done at quite modest altitude
(circa 50kft if I recall correctly) -- they were specifically intended to
explore hypersonic flight *within the atmosphere*, as a pathfinder for the
hypersonic aircraft that everybody thought were just around the corner.
And the RCS was used for control while coasting above the atmosphere on
the high-altitude flights, long after engine shutdown -- its thrusters
were nowhere near large enough for control with the main engine firing.
Henry
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