A different Space Race

[flamelord]

WI the Bell X-1 had flown before the soviets launched Sputnik? Could it have influenced the Space Race away from expendable Rocket craft to reusable space craft like the DC-X?

 

[corditeman]

Nice idea, but the best re-usable designs were actually British. America had gone the step-rocket route with Von Braun.

British ? Yes - Hawker Siddeley Mustard and HOTOL.

 

[Wolfman]

WI the Bell X-1 had flown before the soviets launched Sputnik? Could it have influenced the Space Race away from expendable Rocket craft to reusable space craft like the DC-X?

The Bell X-1 flew in 1946/47, Sputnik was in the fifties...

 

[Workable Goblin]

WI the Bell X-1 had flown before the soviets launched Sputnik? Could it have influenced the Space Race away from expendable Rocket craft to reusable space craft like the DC-X?

Well, as already pointed out, the X-1 did fly some time before Sputnik. Anyways, you should probably read about the huge variety of proposed Apollo and Mercury designs. Everything from the final capsules to crazy lenticular (flying saucer!) to winged designs was proposed. In the end, the rockets are cheaper and easier in the short run, and that is what drove the space race. So, you're not very likely to get non-rocket spacecraft anytime soon.