SPACE FLIGHT, THE RIGHT WAY
We started right . . .
On August 22, 1963, the X-15
flew to the edge of space.
But because of budgetary considerations, that is, politics, the space program had to be piggybacked onto military programs. Thus, the superior approach of reaching space in a winged aircraft was supplanted by the ballistic method of putting a space capsule atop a guided missile. The X-15 and the winged spacecraft program were dismantled.
The result is a space program in which space vehicles never really fly but are, in effect, projectiles. The risks of placing humans atop huge bombs, the lack of control and maneuverability during flight, and the inherent inefficiency of ballistics for reaching escape altitude and velocity have rendered NASA's space program obsolete from its inception.
Finally, we are back on the right track.
White Knight Mother Ship Carries SpaceShipOne
All photos by