|
|
Article: With one bound. (new rocket technology)
- Article from:
- The Economist (US)
- Article date:
- August 28, 1993
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1993 Economist Newspaper Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
IT ROSE from the pad like a thousand rockets before it; unlike all the rest, it stopped. Fifty metres up in the air the DC-X hung motionless, its weight perfectly balanced by the clear flames of its four engines. It dipped to the side, slid across the sky, and stopped again. Then, slowly and gently, its engines throttled back and it lowered itself to the concrete below. It did not go far. But neither did the Wright brothers, first time out.
Getting to space is hard. Today's rockets can manage it only by shedding their empty fuel tanks and used engines on the way. McDonnell Douglas's DC-X, which had its first flight over the White Sands Missile Range in New ...