AEROSPACE LINGO:

Q: What's the difference between suborbital and orbital flights?

Suborbital flights typically consist of achieving the appropriate altitude (100 kilometers or about 62 miles) but not having enough energy to reach orbital velocity, meaning you travel out of the atmosphere and return before completing a revolution around the earth. Low Earth Orbit (LEO) or orbital flight is obtaining an altitude between 100 and 1240 miles above the earth's surface and traveling at a speed of 17,500 mph. Once a vehicle reaches this speed and altitude, it enters orbit, and it will continue to fly around the earth until the vehicle is slowed down for reentry.

Q: What does Factor of Safety mean, and how does it apply to me?

Factor of safety, or safety factor, is the ratio of the designed structural capability to the maximum expected load. The higher the safety factor, the safer and robust the part is built. A safety factor of 1 means there is no tolerance for error, so engineers will typically design parts to a much higher safety factor. SA builds all of its parts in compliance with the Aerospaceworthiness (ASW) Standards, which SA developed under NASA contract in cooperation with the Federal Aviation Administration Office of Commercial Space (FAA/AST). The ASW standards were built upon the Airworthiness Standards: the same standard commercial aircraft use today. Rather than relax the standards that have worked so well for commercial aircraft, the only changes made to adopt the standard to use on RLVs was the added provisions to address issues unique to RLVs, such as plasma effects, micrometeorites, cryogenic fluids, etc.

Q: What is the difference between Supersonic and Hypersonic?

There are 4 common terms used to describe the speed at which you fly: subsonic, transonic, supersonic, and hypersonic. Subsonic is a term used to describe the range of speeds at which you are traveling less than the speed of sound, or between Mach 0 and 0.8. From Mach 0.8 to 1.2, portions of the air traveling over the vehicle may accelerate due the vehicles shape to a point faster than the speed of sound; hence the term transonic for transitioning from subsonic to supersonic. Supersonic means that you are traveling at a speed faster than the speed of sound, in other words great than Mach 1. As you travel faster, you will reach a speed called hypersonic which means traveling at a speed that is greater than 5 times the speed of sound, or greater than Mach 5.

Q: What's the difference between a ramjet and a scramjet?

When traveling faster than the speed of sound, a ramjet slows the incoming air down below the speed of sound at which point the fuel is injected and burned. In a scramjet the air travels faster than the speed of sound throughout the entire engine. Ramjets have been used extensively in operational systems.

Q: What's the difference between a ramjet and a rocket?

There are many differences between a ramjet and a rocket. The main difference is that the ramjet uses the oxygen in the atmosphere as its oxidizer; whereas, a rocket carries its oxidizer on board. This may sound like a simple difference, but it has a huge impact on the design of the vehicle. The weight saved in a ramjet designed vehicle can be reincorporated to increase system reliability and safety, such as increased factors of safety on structures and greater redundancy in subsystems (e.g. avionics).

Q: What's the difference between propellant and fuel?

Propellant, in the terms of aerospace and engines, is the consumable fuel and oxidizer used to create a motive force to move an object. Fuel is any material that is burnt or chemically altered in order to release thermal energy. Fuel cannot burn alone; it requires an oxidizer (e.g. oxygen) to complete the chemical process.

FLIGHT INFORMATION:

Q: What is the takeoff and landing like?

You will takeoff and land from a runway in a similar fashion as every typical commercial airliner.

Q: What is the ascent climb and entry descent like?

You will experience forces of up to 2 times the force of gravity (2 G's) or roughly 4 times that experienced on a commercial airliner on both ascent and reentry, creating a more exhilarating experience. Thus the acceleration (rate of change in your velocity) will be about four times greater than that experienced in commercial airlines.

Q: What is the maximum speed you reach during flight?

The predicted maximum speed on our suborbital flights may be as high as Mach 7 or approximately 4500 mph; whereas, to obtain orbital flight, the vehicle will reach 17,500 mph.

Q: How long are you typically weightless?

Depending on the flight path you choose, the time at which you feel weightless, or zero gravity, can vary greatly for suborbital travels, but the typical path would be several minutes. For Orbital travels, it takes 90 minutes to orbit the earth, so it depends on how many times you want to see the world.

Q: How long is the flight duration?

With the vehicle's aircraft-like design, its operability range is much larger than rocket powered vehicles. This allows flexibility in the flight path, rather than a set course. The flight path, which will determine the total flight time, will be determined by your input, so the overall trajectory can vary greatly, typically lasting over 30 minutes. Would you rather go faster at lower altitudes or go as high into space as possible? These are just a couple of the many parameters that can change which have a large impact on your overall experience. Why would anyone want to fly the same path over and over again? Change is good, your own preference is better.

Q: When will the first flights be offered?

The first suborbital flights are planned to start in 2012, and the orbital flights are planned for 2015.

Q: What are the estimated costs?

Suborbital flights can be compared to an ocean cruise in price, and the orbital flights can be compared to that of chartering a business jet.

Q: What kind of training will a person undergo?

With space flights not set to begin prior to 2012, SA will work with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to determine the appropriate training regimen.

Q: How many passengers will fly during each flight?

SA will offer a wide variety of packages that are dependent on customer preferences.

Q: How many crew members will be onboard the vehicle?

2 pilots and 1 cabin attendant.

Q: How many flights will you operate each day?

SA plans on offering 15 or more flights per day.

Q: What kind of maintenance is done in between flights?

SA will use an advanced health monitoring system to continuously update vehicle maintenance schedules to minimize downtime. The advanced structure and simple engine architecture increase robustness. Minimal maintenance will be required between flights during standard operation, and the ground operations will look similar to that of any airport with refueling, passenger boarding and de-boarding, and standard supply replacement.

Q: How many vehicles will you be making?

SA plans on building a fleet of 8 vehicles for suborbital flights.

 

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