Quote:
Originally Posted by Bear Islander
You need a new calculator. Even using you numbers for BTU conversion that means my share of the fuel is 42 gallons. Did you make up that 2,000 gallon figure? I'm not sure you could fit that much in the passenger cabin let alone the engine compartment.
Oxidizer is not fuel and both vehicles need it in proportional amounts
42 gallons of fuel for a trip to space is tiny compared to the fuel consumption of a Nor-Tech.
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Of course I didn't make up the 2,000 gallon number, I think the math is pretty obvious. Convert HTPB BTU's to gasoline BTU's to get approximate comparison data. Use numbers *you* provided (fuel burned for SS1 flight, 3x multiplier for SS2 flight).
Your 42 gallons of fuel number is a fully loaded space craft for a single flight.
Let's say the Nor-Tec does one 10 minute high-speed run for the enjoyment of its passengers (basically 1 end-to-end high speed lake run) and 2 hours 20 minutes of casual cruising (to equate to the 2.5 hour SS2 spaceflight experience). Even by very generous calculations it would only use about 70 gallons of fuel *total*. Divide that by 5 passengers, and you're at 14 gallons/passenger for a pleasure trip. Even with only 2 passengers it's 35 gallons/passenger.
Still not seeing how your space flight uses less fuel by any comparable measure than the Nor-Tec.
The "oxidizer" for the Nor-Tec is air (or compressed air, if the engines are not naturally aspirated), which is for now at least free and plentiful and is not generally considered a "consumable" in its operation. That's why I threw in the nitrous oxide comment, the SS2 spacecraft is consuming the HTPB and nitrous oxide.