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In principle I have to agree that the C-3 is incredibly attractive... but EOR really doesn't seem likely to have met the deadline. The timeline I'm playing around with at the moment (with apologies to E of Pi et al for the blatent use of Eyes Turned Skyward concepts while ripping off For All...

You know, I'd really like the see what a 109 looks like after a British redesign... Ok, I probably really just mean it's a shame the Whirlwind didn't work, but whatever.

You know, I really like the idea of using the Gyrojet. It wasn't impractical even as is, and solves a lot of the things that genuinely make small arms in space problematic.

It does make a kind of sense programatically as one of the most meaningful steps toward resusability, especially given that NASA seemed pretty wedded to the idea that the F-1 engine was altogether too expensive. Sea Dragon's existence might even reinforce that if it's a cargo only system with...

I'd also have some questions about how well the gas system would handle the vacuum environment, but that's not at all distinct to the AR platform, and definitely not something that can't be overcome.

Ugh. I didn't take a close look at those rifles before, but no, THAT thing is just not going to happen. I mean honestly, at a minimum the mags aren't going to be reloadable with EVA gloves, but realistically? I have my doubts about the optic through a visor, the trigger (although looking...

Try explaining that in 1969 or 1972 though. Let alone in the timeline where SIVB malfunctions just caused all the issues, including two dead astronauts, we saw at the end of season 1.

The question with these damn things is always "on what premise"? What strikes me is that no one has done a serious attempt at a Star Clipper timeline,

In fact a giant h2 tank is about as specific as Sea Dragon ever was about payload. I'd be thinking in terms of the Integrated Program Plan... We've already got a reusable LEM in season 1, and the Sea Dragon scene suggests that the "nuclear shuttle" component is probably in place. So while that...

If season 1 is precedent there's going to be a lot of "ok, the concept is sound, but WHY would you do the tech that way" through the whole thing. That said, for all the things that Shuttle could and should have been, I'd argue that roughly the historic configuration is, relatively speaking, one...

As far as colonization goes, yeah, there do seem to be some good reasons it was far less likely to happen that early (actually, what inspired the thread was a HOI4 game in which I marched an Italian army group across central Africa and realized that, yeah, that's DEFINITELY going to mean a...

So acknowledging that there are what seem to be early cases and the virus was quite possibly somewhat global as early as the 60s... How bad could an AIDS pandemic in the mid to late 19th century have been? With an earlier jump to humans it doesn't seem a huge stretch for an outbreak to reach a...

It's meant as a Stratolaunch like system, not a larger freighter.

Ok, split the difference: Realistically far worse than the 52, but I've got a real soft spot for the 60. Convair really had a thing for producing awesome but impractical aircraft didn't they?

Well...

I'd argue that the bigger commercial mistake than the A380 was Boeing, both in conceding the upgraded VLA market when they cancelled upgrades last the 400 and in NOT conceding once airbus did launch a product. Airbus OTOH, really should have done something more akin to Lockheed. A 777 size...

Remember that the A380 stretch never happened. End of the day the airlines aren't looking for more capacity in any significant numbers, and whatever Airbus says about fuel per seat mile the actual operators are claiming that 4 engines of parts and maintenance is a lot worse than twins with...

I'll preface this by saying that my preferred "wishful thinking" is a scenario in which Nixon gives NASA a directive that is closer to "no new projects" than anything else, with the result that Saturn sticks around at minimum production rates and the program is left trying to wring every mission...

Agreed, but on the one hand yeah, we didn't really have a sense of just how risky Apollo was in radiation terms until the 80s or 90s iirc. On the other, it's closer to acceptable than it might seem. The regolith on the roof approach is perfectly viable, it just looks like it's not enough...

Pulling back a bit, there's some interesting implications if Alaska proper is captured by the British in 1854 but the US goes ahead and buys Chukotka in place of Alaska. In terms of modern proposals, this might be of interest.