If Only They Had The Rubles To Build It...

Scientists at the Moscow Institute have designed an aircraft capable of carrying passengers from Moscow to Paris in 20 minutes, and all the way to New York in less than an hour... if only they had the money to build it.

According to Pravda, researchers have built and testing what they call a working 1/25 scale model of the aircraft -- called an "aerospaceplane by the facility's director -- but are seeking funding to build a full-size prototype.

The aircraft (which, judging by the graphic at the right, looks something like a Concorde mated to a flying saucer) would feature dual rear-mounted hypersonic engines powered by hydrogen and oxygen -- making the vehicle environmentally friendly, Pravda points out. The plane could reach speeds in excess of 30,000 kph, or Mach 25.

"It will use a usual runway for taking off and landing, like a usual airplane," said the unnamed Moscow Institute director. "But it will fly like a manned spacecraft when in midair."

Such capabilities would allow the 246 ft. aerospaceplane to carry anywhere from 10 to 45 tons of payload, with both passenger-carrying and cargo roles envisioned by the Institute. The aircraft would reach altitudes as high as 124 miles above the earth.

Pravda adds the cost of such cargo flights would be significantly lower than what NASA charges for space shuttle missions -- a matter of a few hundred dollars for one kilo, according to the Institute, instead of $20,000. That is, if the Institute is able to gather enough money to build the prototype.

"The building of two active spaces plane will require from six to eight billion rubles," said the Institute director. "It will take us from five to eight years to build them provided that the financing starts in the nearest future."

FMI: www.phystech.edu