Timeline for Getting a manned ship into space without being detected
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
6 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Jan 30, 2015 at 10:52 | comment | added | Mike L. | That's not really how spaceplanes are supposed to work. To get any benefit (and serious payload capacity), you need to get as much velocity as you can in the upper atmosphere on air-breathing engines, and that leaves one hell of a trail. We're talking up to mach 20 or thereabouts, at which point you're basically flying a barely controllable fireball. That is accelerating. No amount of stealth helps at that point, though you might be able to keep people guessing at who's launching what. | |
| Jan 29, 2015 at 4:56 | history | edited | Henry Taylor | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
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| Jan 28, 2015 at 22:54 | comment | added | Mark | In response to your edit, the higher you get, the more visible you are. MH370 vanished because, at a cruising altitude of only 12km or so, the horizon is less than 400km away. At a low-orbit altitude of 300km, you can be seen from 2000 km away. Get up to 1000km, and missile-defense radars will spot you. | |
| Jan 28, 2015 at 21:57 | history | edited | Henry Taylor | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
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| Jan 28, 2015 at 20:50 | comment | added | Joshua | There is effectively no limit to ground radar range. Every loose bolt in orbit is tracked. | |
| Jan 28, 2015 at 17:59 | history | answered | Henry Taylor | CC BY-SA 3.0 |