/sci/ - Science & Math

>>12175672
>>12175675

Don't forget the PR nightmare of having to explain, post-Columbia, that the USAF was sitting on a secret TSTO system that could have been used for non-ISS construction flights.

Although, IIRC some of the rumors about the USAF TSTO also specified that it relied on the kinds of insanely toxic fuel that NASA tested in the 1950s and early 60s* to get it to orbit, so acknowledging that stuff in the open might have been a big no-no.

*I'm talking shit like TEB-doped kerolox or boranated hypergolics to get you methalox/hydrolox-tier ISP from kerolox or Ethanol+Peroxide-tier propellant densities and lighter non-cryogenic tankage.