I'm an author currently working on a science fiction novel, and I'm trying to design a spaceplane within my story that is relatively scientifically accurate. In order to have the vehicle operate in atmosphere I needed it to have wings, but in zero/low g's wings are relatively pointless. I was looking at the radiator design on the STS-118, and while it is relatively functional, for a combat encounter in space that type of opening would provide a noticeable weak point. In analyzing these issues I came to the idea that having the wings double as radiators would give them an essential role while in space rather than providing zero benefit, and would take away the need to have a separate radiator that could be exploited as a vehicular weak point. I'm curious, is such a design possible (or more realistically pragmatic), or would the other potential issues - such as designing the radiator/wings to both be shaped in a way that allows them to gain lift while still maintaining enough surface area to dissipate heat effectively - outweigh the potential design benefit?
Curious to see how many of you would consider drop tanks to be their own stage.
What are some of the good mods for building SSTOs and spaceplanes? Also, is B9 Aerospace still around?
Planning on a grand tour. Only issue I’m running across so far is the eve lander. FUCK I HATE THAT PLANET. The amount of hours I’ve spent trying to get something on that shit and back off is unreal.
Edit: I got something working that is quite possibly the ugliest thing I’ve ever built. It’s definitely the ugliest lander I’ve made, and I’ve made some fugly tourist landers for the nun on career. Eve + functional doesn’t exactly leave a wide margin for aesthetically pleasing though…
I was just wondering, since I'm getting more into spaceplanes, what does a generic spaceplane ascent profile look like? I'm asking because I've never really flown a spaceplane successfully into space. Btw, when I say spaceplane, I mean Spaceplane SSTO, not a shuttle-style spaceplane
