This is the amazing Lockheed Martin SR-72—the space Blackbird

reply to post by Zaphod58


Yeah, I can definitely see that as a feasible option to them, now the only question would be how long will it take to cross platform something like this like they did with the A12/SR71? and what other iterations could it turn into?

reply to post by zazzafrazz


Woohoo!
I made the Live show. cool
lol

grey580
reply to post by zazzafrazz

 

Woohoo!
I made the Live show. cool
lol

congrats, grey!

i.dailymail.co.uk...

another image

reply to post by kingofyo1


The A-12 into the SR-71 came about because both the CIA and the USAF wanted to do the same mission. So both required similar platforms. It only makes sense that the USAF would need an ISR platform. It's the same with the RQ-170, which is currently operated by both as well, although almost all of them belong to the USAF.

Not the SR-72 however an interesting pic

reply to post by grey580


happen to know which craft that is being refueled?

reply to post by kingofyo1


reply to post by grey580



It's a fake. The "triangle" was actually another F-111 that they pasted over, and then copied it to make it look like it had always been in the picture.

However, the "refuelling" picture is a hoax -- it was montaged by Bill Rose for the October 1995 issue of Astronomy Now (UK) magazine. There, it is captioned "A simulation of the refuelling of the top secret 'Aurora'. Photo composition by Bill Rose."

www.fas.org...

reply to post by Zaphod58


awe the tail end kind of resembled a corvair kingfish concept.. I was hoping that was one that got off the drawing board, but never actually made it to production

reply to post by grey580


Do you know if you can listen to the show again? Is there a pod cast or something?

reply to post by Stealthbomber


You have to go through the show website to listen. It should be in the link posted earlier.

reply to post by Zaphod58


Okay thanks, did you end up making it on the show Zaph?

reply to post by Stealthbomber


It doesn't start until later on. It still has a little over an hour before it starts.

It's 9pm EST/8 CST when it starts.

Zaphod58
reply to post by kingofyo1

 

My two favorite hobbies. Dropping crumbs and watching people's brains work, and making people think, and go nuts trying to figure things out.

Wait 3, the THREE defining characteristis of the Spanish Inquisition are.....

Oh and Fourth... sigh... We'll just come in again!

reply to post by 8675309jenny


One after my own heart! a Python lover!

blackgoldwolf

kingofyo1
reply to post by Zaphod58

 

I've seen some of the navy's videos regarding railgun tests, but have you heard anything regarding laser weapons being employed on aircraft such as the 72, or anything else for that matter?

also, sent you a u2u regarding some questions I've got

edit on 1-11-2013 by kingofyo1 because: (no reason given)

You know i spoke with a ex SR-71 pilot at March ARB back in 09 when he came to talk about the blackbird, after everyone left i got him to slip up on some of the defense aspects of the SR-71, he claimed it had a laser defense system onboard.
I don't remember the pilots name but i do believe he also said he flew the F117 and U2

The 'laser defense' is probably not what average people think when they hear the word...

Turbolaser vs Xwing

It's likely to be an infrared laser which attempts to confuse the IR seeker heads of anti-aircraft missiles. Nowhere near powerful enough to cause physical damage but if designed properly it can jam older generations of SAM and AA missiles.

Zaphod58
reply to post by grey580

 

By 2018 my right unmentionable. I'm willing to put money it's flying right now and has been for years. Which means it's going to have an incredibly successful and fast test program.

Based on all the other incredibly successful and fast test programmes they've been able to carry out lately?

IMO the words "affordable" and "hypersonic" do not belong in the same sentence!!

MystikMushroom

Apparently Rocketdyne has already been working on aerospike engines. They like to call them "aerojet" engines instead:

Uh, Aerojet and Rocketdyne are the names of long-standing aerospace companies, competitors on rocket engines, which recently merged.

Rocketdyne calling their aerospike engine a "aerojet" was (until recently) about as likely as McDonald's naming a new hamburger a "Burger of the King".

Aerojet was founded by Theodore von Karman---yes that one---in 1942.

reply to post by Zaphod58


Perhaps this is the armament:
sploid.gizmodo.com...@caseychan

A small scalable laser system.

MystikMushroom
reply to post by Zaphod58

 

Couldn't they put a rocket engine on that sucker, get right up to the line and fire it up for a final "push" into LEO? That thing looks almost like some of space planes rumored to be in the works.

Probably not. The difference between flying high and LEO is very large. Space---in particular stable orbit---is not "high"---it's very very fast around.

Mach 5 is about 1.7 km/s---low earth orbit is about 7 km/s---about 16 times the kinetic energy. So whatever fuel you used to get all the way up screaming at mach 5, you have to use 16 times more---and bring all the oxidizer with you.

Now you see why space is so difficult and expensive.