re: #304 Michele: Out of the closet, Into the fire

Wasn’t the X-33 supposed to be the follow on for the shuttle? Or am I mistaken?

It was a Lockheed Martin SSTO using a lifting body design, twin linear aerospike engines. Vertical take off, horizontal landing. The X-33 was the prototype for the VentureStar orbital ship. The project was cancelled because of issues with the carbon fiber fuel tanks but as per wiki: “Several years after it was cancelled the problems with hydrogen fuel tank were resolved by aerospace companies.”