Shildonia
02-08-2004, 23:38
SSA Press Release, for Immediate Release
The Shildonia Space Agency's (SSA) newest project, the Reusable Heavy Lift Shuttle (RHLS) is nearing completion. Today saw the first public flight of the first stage, which reached an apogee of 83km, before gliding back down to a safe landing approximatly 850km off the coast, where it was recovered for reuse.
The first stage was powered by a pair of LR-11 rockets, each capable of producing almost 64 thousand kilograms of thrust, though in todays test the amount of thrust was below this, due to the fact that the second stage was not onboard and so full thrust was not needed.
After viewing the launch, journalists were taken to the main runway of the Heington Space Port to view the first public test landing of the RHLS Orbiter, named Endurance, which had been carried aloft atop an A-380. At a height of about 5000metres, the Endurance was released and under the expert guidance of pilots Walt Frisbee and George Madagascou came to a perfect landing just a few metres right of the runways centre line, still well within acceptable parameters for the mission.
The hull of the RHLS Orbiter is built of Starlite plastic, the same material used in the construction of the Shildonia Flying Corps orbital satellite killer, the CloudRaker. Unlike the CloudRaker however, the RHLS is capable of carrying a much larger payload, both in terms of volume and weight. Depending on the requirements of the mission, the payload could be anything from 10 crew and 7,000kg of payload, or 4 crew and 13,000kg of payload. The former will be used for resupply and crew transfer aboard the planned Shildonian Space Station (SSS), while the latter will mainly be used during the construction phase, or other occasions when particularly heavy pieces of equipment need to be lifted into orbit.
If the remaining tests go according to plan, the first manned orbital flight of the RHLS will occur within six months.
The Shildonia Space Agency's (SSA) newest project, the Reusable Heavy Lift Shuttle (RHLS) is nearing completion. Today saw the first public flight of the first stage, which reached an apogee of 83km, before gliding back down to a safe landing approximatly 850km off the coast, where it was recovered for reuse.
The first stage was powered by a pair of LR-11 rockets, each capable of producing almost 64 thousand kilograms of thrust, though in todays test the amount of thrust was below this, due to the fact that the second stage was not onboard and so full thrust was not needed.
After viewing the launch, journalists were taken to the main runway of the Heington Space Port to view the first public test landing of the RHLS Orbiter, named Endurance, which had been carried aloft atop an A-380. At a height of about 5000metres, the Endurance was released and under the expert guidance of pilots Walt Frisbee and George Madagascou came to a perfect landing just a few metres right of the runways centre line, still well within acceptable parameters for the mission.
The hull of the RHLS Orbiter is built of Starlite plastic, the same material used in the construction of the Shildonia Flying Corps orbital satellite killer, the CloudRaker. Unlike the CloudRaker however, the RHLS is capable of carrying a much larger payload, both in terms of volume and weight. Depending on the requirements of the mission, the payload could be anything from 10 crew and 7,000kg of payload, or 4 crew and 13,000kg of payload. The former will be used for resupply and crew transfer aboard the planned Shildonian Space Station (SSS), while the latter will mainly be used during the construction phase, or other occasions when particularly heavy pieces of equipment need to be lifted into orbit.
If the remaining tests go according to plan, the first manned orbital flight of the RHLS will occur within six months.