Whats the problem with The Unlimited land speed record?

[PorkPie]

Sorry, Robin,

but John Cobb and his Railton hold the record from 1939 to 1963.....and this is a little bit more than 16 years

PP - as TD has already pointed out I said longest held outright record rather than the person who had held the record longest. 

Robin

.........this is manipulating the history....

[Robin UK]

Nope - not at all. Cobb is the person who has held the record longest if you add his records together. Andy is the owner of the longest held individual record. Clear, correct and not at all manipulative. 

Cheers

Robin

[Blue]

Blue:
I 'get' your earlier post - simple and light is good but...

If Blue Flame was theoretically capable of 900mph why did it stop at 600?

It would be good to get a Bloodhound engineer to answer but why do YOU think the UK team have gone the complicated/heavy route?  They are respected, experienced and are relatively well-resourced - I am sure they would have considered the simple/light way at an early stage.  I suspect they have some very good reasons to do with safety and flexibility in being able to run slow, faster, fastest runs without mass-redesign.

1. Blue Flame was one year behind schedule and at half thrust when it got there with engine issues.  The team had scheduled a two year build and two years of running.  It took three years of build and after a year of running set the record.  The sponsor made a business decision to pull the plug on the original schedule.

2. Throttleable rocket engines are available made to order at a TRL of 8+.  Using a cluster of 4, we have a thrust range of 2,200 to 25,600 infinitely variable.  Rocket thrust can be controlled to 25-50 ms accuracy, the EJ-200 is at 250-400 ms due to fan inertia.  It would be better to be 10X faster for controllability.  A jet is not necessary for control, and is detrimental for mass.  The choice to go with it was because it is a known quantity to the team's knowledge base.

3. Simpler is better, faster, and cheaper.  This is a fundamental of all design.  When there are limited sponsor dollars available, cheaper should drive simpler.

4. Every design for every purpose in the world is limited by the requirements and the margin assumed.  Assume a given requirement, the design can't meet future needs.  Assume no margin, the design will never meet current needs.

Every ALSR vehicle designed since 1959 has failed to achieve its design goals.  Therefore, we need to design for more than we need.  If 800 MPH is the goal, then we need a vehicle whose thrust is greater than drag at 680 MPH.  If 1,000 MPH is the goal, then we need a vehicle that can survive a 20% weight gain, or a 50% drag hit, or both, and still make the design point.

It was Colin Chapman who said, "add lightness, and everything gets better".

Words to live by.  From a Brit.



Where we have designed to:
Launch mass =       6,250 lb
Thrust =              25,600 lb-ft
Isp =                       243 sec

Where we are:
Fuel margin =             65%
Structural margin =    450%
Weight margin =         34% (currently, it's getting better)
Drag margin@1,000 =  50%

Why didn't BSSC go in this direction?  The history in 1983 was that a blunt, heavy, and complex car got the record over a sleek, light, and simple car.  The fact was that later analysis showed Blue Flame would have topped out at 900+ without stability issues, while T2 would have blown over at 680.  Ignoring this, the British went with a more blunt, heavier, and more complex car designed to go 850;  it went 771.  Fine, it got the record;  it didn't make spec: it never would have done 850.  This gets lost in the history, yet is critical to the engineering.

Now we have another blunt, heavy, and radically more complex design chasing 1,000 mph with no margin.  It will not make spec.  I applaud Richard Noble's ability to engage his nation's industry, education, and military support.  In this, he has no equal.  

It is time for America to get off it's dead tail.  When we choose to (big qualifier), Americans lead the world in engineering, technology, innovation, guts, and glory.  Over the last 6 years, we have solved this problem with 1/4 the hardware and far less risk.  This does not take hundreds of millions of dollars.  It is not cheap, it can be done.

[velocity]

I've said it before, and it remains the singular reason why the United States of America will ALWAYS be second to the United Kingdom -- Richard Noble.

The guy has fired up his country to action three times. Three times. Along the way his devotion to speed deeds have cost the guy plenty, including a marriage, but still he engenders insatiable desire. Precisely what the USA lacks.

I've had no end of discussions and conversations with potential sponsors and owners that always end with "that's nice, but why bother?" or something like that.

The closest personality to RN that we've got is John Force. If we could convince Force to quit drag racing. Fat chance; he's got daughters and a son-in-law to mentor.  Don't think I haven't asked him, as well as many others in every motorsport discipline through the years. Most are fascinated by LSR, but no one is interested enough to abandon their well-financed teams and entertaining race schedules.

Until we have an American version of R. Noble, O.B.E., someone who can give corporate or private sponsors a sense of belonging, we are freewheeling in neutral.

At Speedweek's washout, Ed Shadle told me he has get hopes for the NA Eagle runs in October. It's along shot, but at least the team is trying and may still shut the mouths of nay sayers. At least until the Bloodhound rolls out on the African pan.

For the rest, the slog continues. . .

[Seldom Seen Slim]

I don't follow drag racing - but have been hearing of John Force for years.  Didn't I read, in a recent Hot Rod magazine interview, that he would/is considering some LSR?  Maybe it's not as far-fetched as you think, Louise.

[martine]

Thanks for responding 'blue'.
I actually agree with much of your post - simple solutions are elegant but I guess sometimes the quest for simplicity can make it too hard or the contraints too close to being critical.  I not just thinking of engineering constraints but also safety.  I'm told the BSSC team didn't like the idea of using liquid-fuelled rockets due to the difficulty of getting the combustion right...if you don't it can be very dangerous.  I wasn't aware you can get rockets off the shelf - perhaps that's only in the USA?

What's 'TRL +8'?

It is time for America to get off it's dead tail.  When we choose to (big qualifier), Americans lead the world in engineering, technology, innovation, guts, and glory.  Over the last 6 years, we have solved this problem with 1/4 the hardware and far less risk.  This does not take hundreds of millions of dollars.  It is not cheap, it can be done.

Careful not to exaggerate...I think US engineering can undoubtedly be world-class...Apollo & the Space Shuttle were truly fantastic achievements but a long way from being from simple and elegant.  Dare I mention the US Supersonic passenger plane?  Concorde was more elegant I would suggest (both aesthetically and technically).

We are indeed blessed with Richard Noble's leadership and contagious enthusiasm but UK engineering can also be world-class.

[DaveL]

Blue:
I like your thinking.
What Propellant combo gives you the Specific Impulse of 243?
Cheers,
Dave.

[Graham]

I've said it before, and it remains the singular reason why the United States of America will ALWAYS be second to the United Kingdom -- Richard Noble.

I've had no end of discussions and conversations with potential sponsors and owners that always end with "that's nice, but why bother?" or something like that.

For the rest, the slog continues. . .

"why bother" is the main sentiment of the public too.

The challenge of the absolute record has outstripped the ability of most and the resources of everyone but the Noble team - a design is relatively easy to propose (how many semi-serious ones have we seen come and go in the last decade alone... at least half a dozen?) but any non-Bloodhound design that actually makes it to the playa for a red hot go is going to have to be the one funded by an obsessed multi-millionaire. Multi-millionaires obsessed by records are increasingly few and far between, I'd say, but maybe it'll happen and we can enjoy the excitement of it.

Bloodhound SSC is an education project that happens to have a batshit crazy vehicle as its focus. Most people tend to miss this. Noble is a smart man, without this aspect, he would never have gotten things off the drawing board. It's what the government support is for, its why companies want to be involved. It's not some frosting on top of the cake, it's a bigger task than breaking the land speed record. It will be both his most enduring legacy and the only reason his obsession with the LSR has been able to continue. Smart, smart man. There are a few other efforts out there that have tried to paint the very tip of their iceberg as an educational project in a knock-off attempt, assuming a few school visits and some stuff on the web will do the trick. This is nonsense and is totally transparent and ineffective. Passing lip-service is not going to cut it. Only Noble's team were in a position to pursue this, and to echo Louise again, only Noble could've sold it with the conviction that comes with having achieved what nobody else could. He knew that without this new focus, there would be no project - win win. Success breeds success, it's the reason someone like Elon Musk can propose some way-out-there stuff all the time for Tesla or SpaceX - he's done what he said he would do in the past, and keeps doing it while others talk.

I should add that anyone truly passionate about education that is not involved with the Noble team can think of a hundred better projects to spend that amount of time and money on to inspire schoolkids to pursue STEM studies and careers, there's only room in the playground for one mental rocket car and well done to them for their fantastic achievements, everyone else is just working out how to even follow the dust cloud at the moment.

[F104A]

When Richard called me a few years ago and told me about the Bloodhound project, he outlined his idea of reaching out to the kids. I told him we have had a "classroom page" on our site for years and kids can read about LSR, challenge the test and our webmaster would grade it and give feedback. I also told him about our STEM program in conjunction with Sally Crossfields STEM program for aviation. We've given lectures (presentations) to students of physics, math, aviation trades and a host of other classrooms and to general assemblies. So as it goes, we've been doing that all along with no recognition given to the NAE team for their efforts. Yes, I agree that the apathy by the average citizen and people of power, both private industry and government, have given us very little support. The are some companies that have really stepped up in support through technology, services and products and without them we would still have a pile of aluminum. We've conducted 44 test runs over the 16 years of this project and reached a speed of 515 MPH on a shortened track last fall. This year, we expect to exceed that speed by more than 150 MPH with an eye on setting the stage for an assault on the 763 mile mark set by Richard and Andy. This is an incredibaly difficult feat and doing it on a shoestring budget with all volunteers makes it that much more difficult but at the same time, much more rewarding than some people can even imagine. We kicked off a fund raiser to get enough money together to run our event this fall and just trying to cover the expense of having Mike Cook bring his timing system to the desert is going to be over and above the money we currently have in the bank. So, how are we going to do this? Damned if I know but we're going to do it somehow!!! 

[PorkPie]

Why didn't BSSC go in this direction?  The history in 1983 was that a blunt, heavy, and complex car got the record over a sleek, light, and simple car.  The fact was that later analysis showed Blue Flame would have topped out at 900+ without stability issues, while T2 would have blown over at 680.  Ignoring this, the British went with a more blunt, heavier, and more complex car designed to go 850;  it went 771.  Fine, it got the record;  it didn't make spec: it never would have done 850.  This gets lost in the history, yet is critical to the engineering.

[/quote]

Blue,

please stay by the facts:

Thrust II - John Ackroyd - the designer of the Thrust II - raised the front a little but, otherwise the racer had no chance to break the Blue Flame record....he done his calculation....and he was aware that at a speed higher than 655 mph the car starts to flip....but also he knew, that the car had not enough power to reach 655 mph....so they took the risk and won....
Thrust II was designed from Ackroyd with the possible speed of 650 mph....the reached 649+ mph...on the point

Thrust SSC - 850 mph....this speed was calculated for the SPEY 205 engines, this engine went never out of the box. For all 65 runs the SPEY 202 engine was in the racer - with the SPEY 202 the calculated speed was 770 mph - and reached 771 mph...on the point

Was there something wrong? May be, as Pete Farnsworth from Blue Flame fame asked in 1998 (at the State Line conferenz room) "Why built the British locomotives, when you can set records with less weight..."

[TD]

What Propellant combo gives you the Specific Impulse of 243?

A table of specific impulse values for various liquid oxidizer + fuel (solid or liquid) combinations is here. 

HTPB + nitrous oxide, perhaps?   Cryogenic handling not required, that's got to be an advantage...

[DaveL]

 

What Propellant combo gives you the Specific Impulse of 243?

A table of specific impulse values for various liquid oxidizer + fuel (solid or liquid) combinations is here.  

HTPB + nitrous oxide, perhaps?   Cryogenic handling not required, that's got to be an advantage...

Yes, I'm well aware of Isp tables. For comparison they usually assume 1000 psi chamber pressures exiting to 1 atm. Isp values will vary with chamber pressure. As such, any combo on that list could yield an Isp of 243.
I was more interested in his Propellant combo.
Dave

[Paul.n]

I've said it before, and it remains the singular reason why the United States of America will ALWAYS be second to the United Kingdom -- Richard Noble.

I've had no end of discussions and conversations with potential sponsors and owners that always end with "that's nice, but why bother?" or something like that.

For the rest, the slog continues. . .

"why bother" is the main sentiment of the public too.

The challenge of the absolute record has outstripped the ability of most and the resources of everyone but the Noble team - a design is relatively easy to propose (how many semi-serious ones have we seen come and go in the last decade alone... at least half a dozen?) but any non-Bloodhound design that actually makes it to the playa for a red hot go is going to have to be the one funded by an obsessed multi-millionaire. Multi-millionaires obsessed by records are increasingly few and far between, I'd say, but maybe it'll happen and we can enjoy the excitement of it.

Bloodhound SSC is an education project that happens to have a batshit crazy vehicle as its focus. Most people tend to miss this. Noble is a smart man, without this aspect, he would never have gotten things off the drawing board. It's what the government support is for, its why companies want to be involved. It's not some frosting on top of the cake, it's a bigger task than breaking the land speed record. It will be both his most enduring legacy and the only reason his obsession with the LSR has been able to continue. Smart, smart man. There are a few other efforts out there that have tried to paint the very tip of their iceberg as an educational project in a knock-off attempt, assuming a few school visits and some stuff on the web will do the trick. This is nonsense and is totally transparent and ineffective. Passing lip-service is not going to cut it. Only Noble's team were in a position to pursue this, and to echo Louise again, only Noble could've sold it with the conviction that comes with having achieved what nobody else could. He knew that without this new focus, there would be no project - win win. Success breeds success, it's the reason someone like Elon Musk can propose some way-out-there stuff all the time for Tesla or SpaceX - he's done what he said he would do in the past, and keeps doing it while others talk.

I should add that anyone truly passionate about education that is not involved with the Noble team can think of a hundred better projects to spend that amount of time and money on to inspire schoolkids to pursue STEM studies and careers, there's only room in the playground for one mental rocket car and well done to them for their fantastic achievements, everyone else is just working out how to even follow the dust cloud at the moment.

Oh Graham, this is the problem with the ALSR!!!  You are, in my opinion the world leader in understanding Compressible Ground Effect Aerodynamics. Your knowledge and understanding in this field is second to none but, what do you do with that knowledge??  You keep it locked away on the premise that there is only room in the playground for one mental rocket powered vehicle!  The world can embark on the amazing adventure inspired by the challenge of developing an iconic program focused on the promotion of science and technology, first laid down by BloodhoundSSC, who’s primary objective is to excite and inspire a new generation of British engineers.

Upon my becoming aware of Bloodhound I realised that the problem was not confined to Britain, but is far greater than that and actually a serious Global crisis. The whole World needs to stimulate the uptake of students into science and technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) to create an upturn in the choice of STEM subject’s at school level.

Other than the maiden flight of Concord, there has never been a program as iconic since that of the Apollo lunar landing in 1969. These amazing achievements inspired the World. The concept of a program to design and build a vehicle that would be capable of travelling across the surface of the   Earth with a target speed of 1609kmph-[1000mph] has already captured the imagination of a Nation and is set to inspire the World across all generations, over 45 years on! 

Australia’s expanding population is placing immense strain on the electricity power generation and transmission facilities network, which is in need of expansion and replacement. The road networks are also in need of urgent attention. Problem is, there are too few engineers to accomplish these tasks. Global awareness of the environment has brought about an urgent need for greener smarter solutions to meet our ever increasing requirements.

Research into solar, hydro and wind turbine power supplies offer alternative solutions.These companies have the resources to create their own programs in an attempt to stimulate their own supply of future engineers but such programs would be lacking the ability to capture the imagination of the younger minds.

Universities Globally are struggling to attract future engineers yet are happy to sit back and expect people like me to pay them to work on projects that will encourage a massive uptake of such which would enable them to flourish!

Australia needs a program that will match the British, a program that will excite, inspire, stimulate and capture the imagination of our future generations, focusing them on science and technology, engineering and mathematics at school level. A program that will ultimately provide our future with the mindset that can counter the effects of Global warming and secure a safe and healthy planet for the future.

The BULLETPROJECT has been developing such a program by designing a vehicle which rises to the challenge laid down by BloodhoundSSC, launching an attempt on the target speed of 1609kph-[1000mph] Our vehicle, the RV1, is the smallest of all challenge vehicles but is casts the largest net in collecting the sciences and technologies needed to make this project a safe and successful one. It will be propelled by rockets, as well as incorporating new and existing technologies to demonstrate the diverse and challenging opportunities available when choosing a STEM career.
A small team of individuals have been working on bringing this program together, enabling this amazing journey to move on through transforming its concepts from the computer screen and turning them into reality.

There is room for more that one ALSR vehicle in the global playground but this can only happen if people would just open their minds and offer a little support. This has to be done or the Universities will have no engineers to teach and our Global infrastructure will crumble around our heads.

Paul

[Graham]

Hi Paul, thanks for the compliment (though I'm sure it's debatable!), though somewhat ironically you could only draw that conclusion from the volume of work that I've put out in the public arena, so I'm not sure what's considered "locked up".  The entire output of my research career is publicly available to absolutely anyone that wants it - I've never done any work in private.

I taught almost 1000 students last year and they all heard about land speed record cars, too. We enjoyed watching some Bloodhound videos on youtube in Fluids class. We had a "who's more calm than Andy Green at 700mph" competition. But Felix Baumgartner was the biggest talking point in class in 2013, and few will forget that we were discussing Bernoulli when NASA announced Curiosity had survived it's fall to Mars in 2012. There are countless great ways to inspire young people to follow through on STEM, and since I asked them at the time, they think Felix's brilliant, stunning, challenging, beautiful, almost completely pointless skydive was the coolest thing ever. It doesn't take a lot of seasoned insider insight to consider what would have been the reach of an effort that did not have Red Bull's financial backing and a barrage of exceptionally savvy media. I'm sure there was only really room for one mega-hyped insane hugely-expensive supersonic skydive in the public consciousness.

Having worked at an Australian university, trust me, nobody (at any university I'm aware of) is sitting back waiting for others to work on projects to ensure engineering enrollments, there's too much money at stake!! Anyway, over the last 6 years I have put an immense amount of time into UNSW's Sunswift solar racing team, we've set two international land speed records and undertake about a dozen local school visits per year, as well as hosting numerous groups at the uni on open days, info days, renewable energy event days, women in engineering even days... I could go on. We run tours and edu sessions with several groups working with schoolkids from disadvantaged backgrounds. We help run the Sunsprint outreach program too for lots of schools, and the Sunswift students have put huge effort recently into meeting with politicians and getting more into the media to promote renewables, sustainable transport, and STEM initiatives of all stripes. As a volunteer student engineering project in Australia, there is no parallel. It's a fraction of what Bloodhound has been able to achieve, but I'm no Richard Noble =) And I already have a way-more-than-full-time job.

Some of the top people in industry and Canberra have been quite taken with the Sunswift project in recent times, so in that little way we're doing our best to influence powerful people to take research and science seriously in Australia - it's only off the back of our achievements though, not just our intent. Now, many of our 200+ core alumni are heading up RE companies, working for Tesla, designing wind power systems for Google, and changing the world for the better in numerous other ways. Had I followed my passion for supersonic cars, I'd probably have had a handful of project students and a lot of nice computer renders, but we'd certainly have no records, and most likely have had a tiny blip of the educational impact that actually setting actual records has been able to inspire. I think your own passion is fantastic and the work you are doing with young people is brilliant, we need so many more people to follow your lead... but there are also many ways to achieve what you're describing. I didn't mean to disparage your project or approach, but I'm skeptical as to what is achievable in terms of a vehicle (any vehicle, not specifically the Bullet design) seeing the actual light of day given the epic funding requirements. Rosco and Ed are brilliant men who've devoted their life, almost completely, to their dream, on a shoestring. Without bottomless millionaire funding, I believe that a lifetime is what it would take to produce a competitor vehicle as these men are just about doing. I have plenty of respect for your drive and ideas, and I hope you can change my opinion!

I encourage my students to always be doing the new thing - that is the most exciting and inspiring undertaking of all. I love the Bloodhound project and I'm fascinated by all the other designs from the NAE to Bullet to Aussie Invader to Breedlove to you name it, but it is amongst the most spectacular use of fossil fuels ever contrived, and I think my solar car students have found an efficient and cost-effective way to, as you put it, "provide our future with the mindset that can counter the effects of Global warming and secure a safe and healthy planet for the future". There are so many brilliant alternative fuel records out there waiting to be broken, with massive media coverage and huge public good will awaiting. Most importantly for those with little financial backing but looking to actually get their name in the record books, they are considerably cheaper and easier to do than 1000mph - at the end of the day, you have to pick your fights. If the fight is to go 1000mph, truly the best of luck, it is a team vs. money more than a team vs. harsh physics.

If the fight is to bring the next generation through into STEM careers with a 1000mph car as the inspiration, then Bloodhound SSC provides an extensive and fantastic stockpile of educational tools and activities that can be used by anyone, anywhere, and whatever their outcome, that vehicle will run and the kids will love it (assuming a safe finale!). I disagree that Australian or American national pride counts for as much as: a well-staffed organisation with a sound pedagogical approach and effective, extensive, free existing resources to be shared.

[Blue]

Thanks for responding 'blue'.
I actually agree with much of your post - simple solutions are elegant but I guess sometimes the quest for simplicity can make it too hard or the contraints too close to being critical.  I not just thinking of engineering constraints but also safety.  I'm told the BSSC team didn't like the idea of using liquid-fuelled rockets due to the difficulty of getting the combustion right...if you don't it can be very dangerous.  I wasn't aware you can get rockets off the shelf - perhaps that's only in the USA?

What's 'TRL +8'?

It is time for America to get off it's dead tail.  When we choose to (big qualifier), Americans lead the world in engineering, technology, innovation, guts, and glory.  Over the last 6 years, we have solved this problem with 1/4 the hardware and far less risk.  This does not take hundreds of millions of dollars.  It is not cheap, it can be done.

Careful not to exaggerate...I think US engineering can undoubtedly be world-class...Apollo & the Space Shuttle were truly fantastic achievements but a long way from being from simple and elegant.  Dare I mention the US Supersonic passenger plane?  Concorde was more elegant I would suggest (both aesthetically and technically).

We are indeed blessed with Richard Noble's leadership and contagious enthusiasm but UK engineering can also be world-class.

I would posit that anyone doing a trade study on rockets vs. jets should know what a TRL is.

The Technology Readiness Scale measures how far an idea has come from inception through testing to flight proven.  TRL 8 is ground and flight tested.  The engines we were quoted (not sponsored, quoted) had a TRL of 9 at 224 Isp and 360 psia chamber pressure.  I dropped this to 8 because we planned on the higher thrust rating from a pressure of 460, which was ground and yet to be flight tested.  It's LOx/ethanol, torch ignition, film cooled.  The film cooling drops the Isp, but increases safety and stability.  Using a continuous torch stabilizes the combustion so that deep throttling is practical.

It is the assumptions that worry me about all of the directions Bloodhound has gone in.  They assumed rockets were not throttleable, rather than ask a rocket engineer.  So they use a jet, which carries mass out the back of the run that a rocket doesn't have.  Then add a rocket of untried chemistry, again not consulting the database.  HTPB is a binder used in many solid rockets, and is favored by many experimenters of small hybrids for its stability and structure.  Amroc tried to scale HTPB hybrids almost 20 years ago and failed because the grain cracks at large diameter.  The Falcon fuel grain failure was inevitable and an off-the-shelf chemistry should have been chosen.  They assumed that a turbo pump was required for the oxidizer, when every rocket engineer I have ever worked with states emphatically that pumps only pay for their weight and complexity beyond 30 seconds of burn time.  A pump means a pre-combustor, and this was replaced with piston engine APU.  A series of assumptions that lacked proper investigation led to an overly complex and heavy design that just got heavier and more complex with every passing year.

Now BSSC is in a very bad way, to use a British phrase.  Under-designed and over-engineered, overweight by 9%, over drag by 7%, and over schedule by ~3X by the team's own status reports, they now have to replace a single rocket with a cluster of "4 or 5".  Look at all of those intricately machined and complex bulkheads in the lower rear structure.  Boring 4 or 5 holes for new motors and then going back in with reinforcement is impractical.  A new lower aft chassis will have to be designed and built.  It has turned into an X-33.

More weight.  More complexity.  We could start from scratch today and be running sooner and cheaper.

Now let's clarify a little history.  The decision to not put the 205's in TSSC was because the actual drag rise showed they would only have gotten another 5 to 7 mph.  The drag rise was far higher than had been predicted and even 800 mph was unachievable for TSSC.  They had the record, they went supersonic, the car was getting beat to pieces by the shock-plume interactions, it was a prudent decision. It didn't come near the 850 design point and would never have.  This, and the 750 quoted for Thrust 2 comes directly from Noble's own book.  The knowledge that 680 would have been the blowover point didn't come until TSSC was being designed and they analyzed T2 with the same code.

Concorde was not more elegant.  Pretty, yes.  The US SST was designed for 40% more range and far more passengers.  This would have made trans pacific city pairs possible, something absolutely required for commercial viability.  It was cancelled for good reason, another limited city-pair aircraft would only have confirmed what Concorde did: not enough market to support the plane.  There still isn't, people simply won't pay the cost of supersonic flight.

Apollo was one of this country's greatest achievements, the Shuttle was a piece of junk.  It's failure was in serviceability and turnaround cost.  35 years later Elon Musk is proving that it's better to leave the mass of the lower stages behind and just take a capsule and cargo to orbit.  It is in his company that I would point to the superiority of US engineering.  In many other companies, bad management trumps even the best engineering on both sides of the pond.

IM<HO, what we need in STEM regardless of how it is inspired is a drive for simplicity.  If it can be bent from sheet metal, don't mill it from billet.  If it fewer parts, fewer engines, fewer different systems can do the job, then they should.  For my own aspirations, I have spent the last several years as part of a wheel driven team designing a simpler and cheaper vehicle than our competition.  We keep getting rained out, let's hope for World Finals.  My only concern is that we really haven't had enough test time, the car has more than enough power vs. weight and drag to exceed spec.  It has margin.

And above all: margin.  Without margin, no design ever makes spec.