Jon PENNYCOOK

a very #British epitaph for any technology: "We failed because we ran out of money."

"Reaction Engines hoped one day its tech would power a reusable space plane"

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c5y5zg85wnlo

"Rolls-Royce said it had other priorities and the UK military has very little money."

#technology #space #SpaceFlight #HOTOL #Skylon #ReactionEngines #UK #history #SpacePlane

What happens when a high-tech project fails?

Workers at Reaction Engines felt they were close to completing a revolutionary jet engine.

BBC News
Jun 3, 2025 at 9:10pmWeb
Show threadStewart RussellJun 3, 2025
@jonpsp I remember when HOTOL failed the first time. I also remember the earthshattering BOOM that Concorde made as it went supersonic off Cornwall: nobody misses that.
Show threadJon PENNYCOOKJun 3, 2025
@scruss I remember Concorde flying over Slough and Brentford - there was no volume setting on my TV that could compete!
Show threadStewart RussellJun 3, 2025

@jonpsp it used to do touch and go landing practice at Prestwick, and the noise was appalling.

I also had an acoustic monitoring site near Truro, and we could set the clock by the huge spike in the chart that it caused.

Show threadWuMing2Jun 4, 2025
@jonpsp it will be interesting to discover who will buy the British firm’s IP.