what's needed

To get average joe into space, what's needed?

1. A spaceframe - what are the parameters of this spaceframe?
2. A propulsion system - how strong does it need to be?
3. The ability to not be destroyed by the extremes of heat and cold in outer space.
4. Re-entry heat shielding

Everything up there could stand to be improved upon, but to actually *get* a person or payload up into space, I think the propulsion system is the absolute most important part.

I know almost nothing about the technical details of rocketry and space flight, although I've been an enthusiastic watcher-from-the-sidelines for many years.  I think it's time to make a concerted, organized effort to get amateurs into space!

What's the big deal?

Why is it so damned difficult to get into space???  I think the sheer numbers of technical issues requiring specialized materials is something that's keeps us grounded.  When a payload moves up away from the earth, all of the variables are changing:  gravity, mass, radiation exposure, air pressure turns into vacuum, STP turns into BLOODY FREEZING, etc.  What needs to happen is some compensation for all of those changes at all heights.  It needs to be cheap enough to be able to be constructed by amateur teams, and needs to be cheap to re-use (non of this space-shuttle-esque expesive stuff!).

So what I plan on doing over the next few weeks, is posting some of what I think is important information in building a payload delivery system.

Project management

I'm thinking this is going to need to be a brainstorm-build-brainstorm-build approach, since I often get bogged down in the details of thinking about how to do things rather than actually doing them.

I suppose the first thing to do is collect data on high-altitude flight characteristics.  Wing designs, etc.  What would be totally awesome is a variable camber wing design that optimizes for different altitudes.  That would be the cheapest way to get us up into high altitudes.

From there I suppose we'd have to switch to a rocket-based propulsion and accelerate to escape velocity...  one question I've always had is, would it be cheap to skip ourselves off of the earth's atmosphere?  Or should we just shoot straight into space?

So my first build I'm thinking is going to be a model airplane...  something to get my feet wet.  I know!  I know it's nowhere near the awesomeness of model rocketry, but my thinking is, why use all that beautiful rocket fuel to get us away from 0 feet off the ground, when I could use that at tens of thousands of feet off the ground?  So the reason for the model airplane is going to be to test the idea of variable camber wing geometry.  I see no reason why a mechanical solution couldn't be found, and since the final project will be a large turbojet that moves very, very fast- I think the wings will ultimately become smaller in size.

So I suppose that my next project post will involve purchasing an RC airplace and familiarizing myself with flying it (fun!).  But the serious mental gymnastics will be done in my "lab" (read: living room) where I will be designing and building a variable-camber wing shape that will hopefully become a lifting body.  Once built I hope to install the RC airplane inside the new body.  (Of course I will probably have to design an RC chip that I can use to control the camber while in flight).

The next steps

If the variable-camber design works, then I will have to do some projections on when to change the camber of the wing shape for optimal up-thrust at different altitudes and velocities and angles of approach (I don't plan on using VTOL systems).  This will give me a flight plan to get us up to the maximum altitude using conventional atmospheric flight.  At that point all movement will have to be by rockets (unless somebody figures something awesome and cheap to do!).

Of course the next step in the propulsion cycle will have to be using jet technology.  This is going to be challenging!  Not only do I want a turbojet, but I also would like a cutoff valve to turn it into a rocket!

So now there's my layout.  I don't have a "project name" or anything fancy yet, but I have a goal in mind:  build a spaceframe that can handle high velocity and be optimized for travel at the highest altitudes, and build a rocket/jet hybrid that can be optimized for travel at every altitude.

Lets see where this takes us...