The US Space Marines....

[American Patriot]

Marines in space!

posted at 4:24 pm on December 18, 2006 by Allahpundit
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“What do you want to be when you grow up, Billy? A soldier or an astronaut?”


“Both, dad. Both.”


If this isn’t a video game yet, it will be.

If a group of Marine Corps visionaries have their way, … 30 years from now, Marines could touch down anywhere on the globe in less than two hours, without needing to negotiate passage through foreign airspace. The breathtaking efficiency of such a delivery system could change forever the way the U.S. does battle.


The proposal, part of the Corps’s push toward greater speed and flexibility, is called Small Unit Space Transport and Insertion, or Sustain. Using a suborbital transport—that is, a vehicle that flies into space to achieve high travel speeds but doesn’t actually enter orbit—the Corps will be able, in effect, to instantaneously deliver Marine squads anywhere on Earth.

They’re modeling the lander on SpaceShipOne.
It’s not clear how the Marines would get out once the mission was complete or how this’ll work when, not if, countries raise their airspace another 50 to 100 miles or how expensive it’s going to be, or or or…


But never mind all that. Look at the illustrations. It’s Halo 2!

[American Patriot]

http://www.popsci.com/popsci/aviatio...cbccdrcrd.html

Peter Bollinger

Semper Fly: Marines in Space
A proposed suborbital space transport will put boots on the ground anywhere in the world in two hours or less. But can it overcome huge technological—and political—hurdles?

By David Axe|December 2006

For a look at a prototypical Space Marine mission, launch the photo gallery. As any battlefield commander will tell you, getting troops to the fight can be as difficult as winning it. And for modern-day soldiers, the sites of conflict are so far-flung, and the political considerations of even flying over another country so complicated, that rapid entry has become nearly impossible. If a group of Marine Corps visionaries have their way, however, 30 years from now, Marines could touch down anywhere on the globe in less than two hours, without needing to negotiate passage through foreign airspace. The breathtaking efficiency of such a delivery system could change forever the way the U.S. does battle.


The proposal, part of the Corps’s push toward greater speed and flexibility, is called Small Unit Space Transport and Insertion, or Sustain. Using a suborbital transport—that is, a vehicle that flies into space to achieve high travel speeds but doesn’t actually enter orbit—the Corps will be able, in effect, to instantaneously deliver Marine squads anywhere on Earth. The effort is led by Roosevelt Lafontant, a former Marine lieutenant colonel now employed by the Schafer Corporation, a military-technology consulting firm working with the Marines. Insertion from space, Lafontant explains, makes it possible for the Marines—typically the first military branch called on for emergency missions—to avoid all the usual complications that can delay or end key missions. No waiting for permission from an allied nation, no dangerous rendezvous in the desert, no slow helicopter flights over mountainous terrain. Instead, Marines could someday have an unmatched element of surprise, allowing them to do everything from reinforce Special Forces to rescue hostages thousands of miles away.


“Sustain is simply an ability to move Marines very rapidly from one place to another,” says Marine colonel Jack Wassink, director of the Corps’s Space Integration Branch in Arlington, Virginia, where the program is based. “Space lends itself to that role.”


The program is quickly gaining traction. Congress has expressed interest, because of the obvious usefulness of the capability it promises. And the technologies necessary to make it happen, from hypersonic propulsion systems to new composite materials needed to make the vehicle lightweight yet strong, are in advanced development in military labs across the country. The Marines expect to fly a prototype in 15 years, most likely a two-stage system using a carrier aircraft that will launch a lander into orbit from high altitude. Production models could show up around 2030, a date that isn’t quite as far away as it seems. Consider that the F-22 Raptor fighter is now entering service after 22 years of development.


But the whole idea still rings of science fiction, and the question is whether its proponents can corral the various technologies together to make the project possible. “Sustain is not a pipe dream,” Lafontant says. “It just needs to gel.”

[American Patriot]

Here's a link to the images:

http://www.popsci.com/popsci/aviatio...cbccdrcrd.html

[American Patriot]

Peter Bollinger Hostage Rescue Minutes after receiving their orders, armed Marines board their spaceship at a secret base in North America. The craft will be carried aloft by a mothership and launched into space from 80,000 feet. Less than two hours after leaving the base, the Marines will land in hostile territory in Southeast Asia.

[American Patriot]

Peter Bollinger Mod Squad The lander, with the squad of 13 Marines and two pilots on board, will travel the 7,000 miles to Southeast Asia in mere minutes by flying above the atmosphere.

[American Patriot]

Peter Bollinger The Express Route A future long-range lander will launch into suborbital space from a carrier craft [1]. The lander will fire its own rockets for the ascent into space and then coast to the conflict area [2], where it will reenter the atmosphere and fly to a touchdown [3].

[American Patriot]

Peter Bollinger Insertion Point After their brief high-speed flight and landing on a roadway, the Marines disembark in a hostile city, ready for action.

[MinutemanCO]

Rick,

I know I've seen data over the last 5 or so years on suborbital civilian transport. My assumption is that it's astronomically expensive (pun intended). Either way, it's impressive.

[American Patriot]

hehehe

Astronomically expensive... lol

Well, think how much it costs NOW to transport people, and how LONG it takes.

And... I'm betting good money they already have the means necessary to do this. We're just not hearing about it yet.

Can you say "Jump Ships" and "Starship Troopers"?

[Brian Baldwin]

hehehe

Astronomically expensive... lol

Well, think how much it costs NOW to transport people, and how LONG it takes.

And... I'm betting good money they already have the means necessary to do this. We're just not hearing about it yet.

Can you say "Jump Ships" and "Starship Troopers"?

While there is no proof to show that we have hidden technologies for space or even suborbital space travel; I too agree that it is probably the case. While the world frets about what if scenarios concerning this we'll be quietly finishing the preps for it. But then I have no doubt others will be quickly working towards the same goal.

[American Patriot]

If Space Ship One can do it commercially for under 4 million, then America can do it for a lot more. lol

[Brian Baldwin]

If Space Ship One can do it commercially for under 4 million, then America can do it for a lot more. lol

LMAO... 600 Dollar toilet seats anyone?

[American Patriot]

I said MORE lol