It somehow escaped my remembrance that September 11, 2013, was the twentieth anniversary of the first public launch of the DC-X Delta Clipper. I should’ve remembered it, since I – and some fellow Iowa State U students – was there in the viewing stands. All I had with me was a crappy little 35mm film camera; would’ve been nice to have had a modern DSLR, but then it would be nice to have a time machine, too. Other folks brought video cameras.
Many if not most of us there that day thought for sure we were seeing the dawn of a new era. Oh, well. Hopefully Falcon 9R will accomplish what McDonnell-Douglas, the BMDO and NASA never bothered to finish with Delta Clipper. A quarter century delay is better than never at all, I suppose.
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And here’s a DC-X promo video from 1992. I suddenly started having flashbacks to the 80’s when I heard the narrator…
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