Scramjets !!!! It works (When)

--- In spacesettlers@yahoogroups.com, "Omar E. Vega" wrote:

> I'm starting to get worried about developing. Imagine: in just 20
> years the planes evolved from a fragile bycicle based artifact to
> reliable planes. And in only 20 years since the V1 the man reached
> the Moon. And now it has passed 35 years !!! since that brilliant
> moment and nothing new had happened at all. What's going on?

My 2 cents: low hanging fruit. As we endeavor to scale more ambitious
heights, so to speak, the physics becomes more demanding. With more
demanding physics, usually we're looking at more money, and then we
need to analyze the marginal benefit gained from spending the money.
Usually it doesn't make sense so efforts are directed at the easier
task - squeezing more performance from mature technology.

Look we're still using the internal combustion engine but today it is
much more efficient than generations ago. Same with aircraft.

Minimal technology is all that is required to get a job done. Only if
it adds value will new technologies be developed. The basic principles
of rocketry were cheaper and easier to figure out, the low hanging
fruit, than boosting ISP, composite construction, SSTO, VTOL, etc.
These breakthroughs will come at a higher cost.

Anyways, that what I think is going on.

TangoMan