Spaceplanes: From Airport to Spaceport (Astronomers' Universe) [Paperback]

Matthew A. Bentley (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 6, 2010 | ISBN-10: 0387765093 | ISBN-13: 978-0387765099 | Edition: 1

Spaceplanes From Airport to Spaceport presents a coherent, lucid, and optimistic picture of the future of the near future. Space vehicles may soon take off from international airports and refuel in space. New technologies could allow flights to take off regularly between the Earth and the Moon. The technical details presented explain precisely how all this can be accomplished within the next few decades. This book also explains why the Space Tourist market could easily become the single most important factor in the mid-term future development of space transportation. In a few years it will be possible to board a spaceplane and fly into Earth orbit, and perhaps visit a space station. Later development could include refuelling in orbit to take a tour of cislunar space. The book's solid engineering foundation will be of interest to both space exploration enthusiasts and future space travelers.

Editorial Reviews

Review

From the reviews: "The book … focuses on the next winged spaceplane and how it should be used. The theme is that the most economical and desirable method to travel in space is to depart on a runway, journey into space, and return to an airport. … This work will be of value to interested general readers and can also be used as a resource for undergraduate space-related courses. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Public libraries and libraries supporting lower-division undergraduates, technical program students, researchers, faculty, and practitioners." (E. H. Dammier, Choice, Vol. 46 (9), May, 2009)

From the Back Cover

Someday, there may be plane-like vehicles that take off from a runway and fly high above Earth, bringing people to work in space, to stay at a space hotel, to visit a Moonbase, or to board another ship for a journey to a neighboring planet in the Solar System. Well, that time is coming, and it’s coming sooner than you might think! There are a number of private companies already taking reservations for passenger flights into suborbital space. There are companies drawing up plans for hotels in space and governments drawing up plans for Moonbases and eventual trips to Mars. Although the fares for the soon-to-be-available suborbital "joy" rides are still rather steep, prices are coming down, and competition is growing fiercer. Matthew Bentley will guide you through the almost bewildering array of different kinds of spaceplanes being developed and show you what the new "spacelines" have in store for us. A strong believer in the ultimate economic advantages of spaceplanes over conventional launch vehicles, Bentley believes their development will guide us to a new and bigger era of space adventure—more grand than has ever been contemplated before.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Springer; 1 edition (February 6, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0387765093
• ISBN-13: 978-0387765099
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #880,978 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Spaceplanes for everything, September 23, 2010

By 

Alex Tolley (Los Gatos, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Spaceplanes: From Airport to Spaceport (Astronomers' Universe) (Paperback)

The writer of this slim volume wants to convince you that a spaceplane is the way to go, not just for earth to orbit, but interplanetary space as well.

He correctly points out that current space launch technologies, whether dumb boosters or primitive space planes like teh Space Shuttle are costly, and very unsafe compared to commercial air transport. Costs are identified as being high due to poor reusability and few launches. Similarly, launching new hardware infrequently is not the way to improve reliability. From this he believes that only when launches are frequent and the vehicles reusable, will prices fall to sustainable levels. So far so good.

What will sustain high launch rates? Space tourism. This will generate a self reinforcing demand for higher volume and hence lower prices. Of course there are no operating SSTO spaceplanes today and they are very far off as well. Almost all require mixed cycle engines to improve their mass ratios. So far all very conventional thinking, even if dumb boosters are the current best way to deliver large payloads to orbit and beyond.

However the author strays off into fantasy when he then suggests that spaceplanes should become the interplanetary ships as well. We are presented with the idea that the spaceplane should be the vehicle for a trip around the moon. Now I know that I have difficulty staying on an aircraft for a few hours and a day is extremely uncomfortable. Now imagine seven days in possibly weightless conditions in a cramped cabin. And that is even before the radiation exposure. If you are dedicated enough to endure all that, what about his proposal for a multi-month mars trip in similar conditions? The author's logic is that the single vehicle is the reliable, safe way to go and that it's wings are needed to reduce propellant costs for reentry and that it's tanks could act as cargo containers for propellant to either the moon or back for refueling.
This is where his logic breaks down. It makes far more sense to have a reusable, dedicated space ship for interplanetary travel. This ship only needs fuel for changing orbits, not for launch, and can be large and protective of the passengers.

My sense is that the author sees all travel through the lens of commercial air travel, but fails to see that off world trips are more like sea voyages. If if are going to take a cruise that takes months, would you prefer to have the freedom of a big ship or be in the passenger cabin of an aircraft?

As to content, it is generally quite lightweight, and there is a lot of repetition between the chapters. The last chapter is a review of many of the private space companies paper spaceplanes. It is already outdated with claims that commercial operations will start in 2009, 2010. Virgin Galactic may not even start suborbital trips until 2014. Orbital trips are still the preserve of missile technology, with Boeing throwing its hat in the ring just this week.

Perhaps spaceplanes are really like the small airplanes of yesteryear, full of potential, but still unable to cross long distances and oceans like ships and airships. Unlike those times, we already have a good idea of the energies involved to reach orbit and the methods to achieve this. Air breathing, combined cycle spaceplanes might not be enough to achieve the goal.

Spaceplanes are a very elegant idea, and I really want to believe, but...

4.0 out of 5 stars Shape of things to come, January 25, 2010

By 

James F. Mcenanly - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Spaceplanes: From Airport to Spaceport (Astronomers' Universe) (Paperback)

This book is a comprehensive review of winged rocket-planes, form the work of Robert Goddard, through present day proposals. It also offers useful equations, such as the Velocity increment. specific impulse ,the Rocket equation, et cetera. It is a very handy book for the prospective spacecraftengineer
One problem I have with this book is that some of the information is outdated. At least one of the projects, the Space-fleet SF-01 has been canceled. However, it is still very useful.

5.0 out of 5 stars Must have for space enthusiasts, April 18, 2009

By 

L. Goenka "larrygo" (Ann Arbor, MI USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Spaceplanes: From Airport to Spaceport (Astronomers' Universe) (Paperback)

This is well written book that gives a good perspective on the historical development of spaceplanes, as well as where they are headed. It contains a lot of detailed information which is complemented by numerous photographs, and presented in a well written manner that is not difficult to understand. A great book for aero and space enthusiasts!