Quote:
Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda
I know why the original shuttle was scuttled, but not why the idea itself was never improved upon. Launching a shuttle from a plane would eliminate the need for rocket boosters and should allow for quicker turnaround, and one would hope that a shuttle designed 40 years later would be able to use safer materials for the heat shield
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Probably has to do with weights.
A quick Google says the launch weight of the shuttle with fuel and everything was 4.4 million pounds plus up to 65,000 pounds payload capacity. The max takeoff weight of a 747 says 735,000 pounds.
When they carried the shuttle on the 747 it was minus the booster rockets and fuel tank. Granted it would probably require less fuel weight to get the shuttle into orbit from 40,000 feet and moving 500 mph, but that is for smarter people than me to calculate.
Somewhat related, one cold war idea for launching icbms was to put them in cargo planes and push them out of the rear during flight. I think the concept did advance with tests but never reached active service if I'm not mistaken.