The USAF built a Mini Shuttle at Area 51 and it ran for about 10 years but was cancelled due to cost overruns.

It was an exotic type vehicle that had Solid Metastable Helium for fuel.

It had Boron Fiber Epoxy Composite fuselage withe Fibrous Lithium alloy sideskins for thermal protection system.

It was too exotic and costly according to my late friend Dr. Robert L. Forward of Hughes Research in Malibu California.

The Helium fuel was his idea.

We used to have long talks in Oxnard and Whidbey Island Washington State.

He was doing research into making Mass-produced Nanotubes when he died of Brain Cancer.

sounds pretty cool... have any links or pics?

Is there anything to backup this "mini shuttle" or is it urban legend?

All I know is that it was cancelled about the time the Airquakes stopped in Southern California.

I learned about Solid Metastable Helium from Robert L. Forward.

I deliberately visited him at a Science Fiction Convention in Anaheim California back in 1984 and we became friends.

He told me all kinds of classified stuff!

I did not know we had that kind of technology until he showed me it.

But you know I was at the right place at the right time and asked the right questions and I got some answers!

I was devastated when I found out he died.

Hmm..i'm not making light of your friend's death...but you met him at a sci-fi convention?

did it ever occur to you that he might have been pulling your leg?

No. He showed me many classified documents after he gave a speech in the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim California near Disneyland.

They were all official Government documents about Solid Metastable Helium and how to make it in a Dewar Vessel and Magnetic field.

It collects at the bottom and is drawn out and can make a metal that is stronger than Steel and lighter than Aluminum.

He said you can make a bridge out of it and use it for 100 years and then burn it for fuel.

He told me it is the most efficient chemical combustion in existence.

I asked him where we were gonna get all that Helium and he said Oil Wells.

That was 1984.

He was for real and was a senior scientist and Physicist at Hughes in Malibu California.

He was a good egg and willing to teach anyone who wanted to learn.

Originally posted by Supercool
No. He showed me many classified documents after he gave a speech in the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim California near Disneyland.

How was he able to get classified documents to you? The originals are supposed to be locked up and all copies of them are destroyed.

Originally posted by SupercoolThey were all official Government documents about Solid Metastable Helium and how to make it in a Dewar Vessel and Magnetic field.

It collects at the bottom and is drawn out and can make a metal that is stronger than Steel and lighter than Aluminum.

He said you can make a bridge out of it and use it for 100 years and then burn it for fuel.

He told me it is the most efficient chemical combustion in existence.

so you're saying that h3 can not only be used as the propellant but also be used to make... metal?

this does not seem plausible.

[Edited on 2-6-2004 by elmariachi]

The combustability of Solid Metastable Helium is well known.

Have any informational sources?

Originally posted by Supercool
The combustability of Solid Metastable Helium is well known.

Yes but the way you worded it makes it sound as if the fuel can also be used as the fuselage or something.

Bob told me it could be, but it wasn't.

It was all Boron Fiber epoxy composite and Thermal Plastic and Tungsten-Tantalum Carbide.

It had Fibrous Lithium-Aluminum alloy sideskins with Titanium plating.

It was built with lightweight stuff so that it could orbit up to Vortex Satellites and rendezvous at one of 6 USAF Stations but it ran overbudget and was closed due to budget cuts.

These Satellites have huge dish antennas the size of a football field.

It had two stages,one was a plane that lifted it to 35,00 feet and launched it and the other was a SRM booster that launched it.

The Solid Metastable Helium crystal flakes were precipitated in a Dewar Vessel that had a very strong magnetic field induced into it and the crystals were collected out of the bottom and they were highly compressed into metal from a powder.

They use a similar powder compression technique to make Turbofan Jet engine blades and special bullets that disintegrate.


[Edited on 5-6-2004 by Supercool]