Lots of real work and a new book have diverted me temporarily from Orbiter and blogging.The book is The Rocket Company by Patrick Stiennon and David Hoerr, and it's really amazing. It's a fictional case study of a private venture to create and market a fully-reusable two stage launch vehicle. While there are characters and fictional situations, the technical and business material is detailed and realistic - the research behind this book is impressive, but it is also highly readable. I'm only half way through it, and I'm learning a lot about space vehicle engineering and the challenges of private space ventures. One interesting point: both stages of the rocket are piloted, and both return to the launch site, which is key to fast and low-cost reusability. More to come...
N.B. Two chapters (1 and 4) from the book are still available on line at HobbySpace.com, where work-in-progress portions of the book had originally been posted.
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