Winston
Lorenzo von Matterhorn
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Is This Concept Art Of A Mysterious Space Launch Mothership A Missing Link In Area 51's Past?
There's a long and colorful trail of circumstantial evidence, rumor, historical context, and patent info that points to such an aircraft existing.
25 Jan 2019
https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zo...ch-mothership-a-missing-link-in-area-51s-past
On January 14th, 2019 Boeing released a series of concept art images showing a very large, high-speed, high-altitude, mothership aircraft and its payload, a reusable air-launched space vehicle. The images are quite interesting for a number of reasons. First off, the setting seems to depict Groom Lake, aka Area 51.
Second, they closely match a patent for just such a launch system that was filed by Boeing in 1986 and awarded in 1989. Finally, this concept is pretty much identical to a rumored program that supposedly flew from the base during the last decade of the 20th Century and possibly into the 21st Century. The timing of the patent and concept drawings also correlates with a number of factors that would support the existence of, or at least the logic behind procuring such an exotic space access system.
As I mentioned in the opening of this piece, what makes these renderings even more interesting is that they seem to show this combination of exotic aircraft being flown out of Area 51. The hills in the background and the general details shown match up near perfectly with the clandestine flight test location.
It's interesting to think that concept art would include such specific details, especially in an age long before Area 51 was as known as it is today or tools like Google Earth existed. The chances of this being some coincidence seem low. Considering the tech being shown and the fact that these renderings remained unreleased for decades, it does make sense that they would show the system operating at its intended base of operations.
The Ford Bronco and the T-38 chase plane also dates the art back to at least the mid 1990s, but more likely the late 1980s. This is quite important because a Boeing patent from that time period describes a very similar space-launch system.
[snip - lots of supporting circumstantial evidence not included here - read the article if interested]
All this may seem to build a somewhat compelling case that an aircraft like the one in shown in Boeing's patent and artwork actually exists or existed. Certainly, the confluence of events in the latter half of the 1980s really seems like the perfect breeding ground for such a concept to be pursued. But we have no hard proof this was indeed the outcome. The truth is that the evidence remains largely circumstantial.
It's probably safe to assume that if a Brilliant Buzzard or Blackstar did become a reality, it either failed to produce the results that were expected of it, or it was sacked due to fiscal reasons, which is quite likely if this thing was born in the Reagan era and fought for its life in the post-Cold War military draw-down of the 1990s. And even if it did exist, it would have been an entirely experimental vehicle, or at best a very low density, high-value and highly classified asset, never really making it out of a semi-operational state and into larger production.
It's somewhat intriguing to think that once again we are in a near-perfect threat environment for such a concept to flourish into existence. And the strange nature of the new hangar at Area 51 does point to this possibility. With all the fiscal weight the Pentagon is now putting behind flexible space launch, hypersonic capabilities, and time-sensitive strike and reconnaissance, it's almost a bit hard to imagine that companies like Boeing aren't dusting off their old plans—or even old planes—and applying 30 years of technological advancement to them in an attempt to make the Air Force's dreams come true.
There's a long and colorful trail of circumstantial evidence, rumor, historical context, and patent info that points to such an aircraft existing.
25 Jan 2019
https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zo...ch-mothership-a-missing-link-in-area-51s-past
On January 14th, 2019 Boeing released a series of concept art images showing a very large, high-speed, high-altitude, mothership aircraft and its payload, a reusable air-launched space vehicle. The images are quite interesting for a number of reasons. First off, the setting seems to depict Groom Lake, aka Area 51.
Second, they closely match a patent for just such a launch system that was filed by Boeing in 1986 and awarded in 1989. Finally, this concept is pretty much identical to a rumored program that supposedly flew from the base during the last decade of the 20th Century and possibly into the 21st Century. The timing of the patent and concept drawings also correlates with a number of factors that would support the existence of, or at least the logic behind procuring such an exotic space access system.
As I mentioned in the opening of this piece, what makes these renderings even more interesting is that they seem to show this combination of exotic aircraft being flown out of Area 51. The hills in the background and the general details shown match up near perfectly with the clandestine flight test location.
It's interesting to think that concept art would include such specific details, especially in an age long before Area 51 was as known as it is today or tools like Google Earth existed. The chances of this being some coincidence seem low. Considering the tech being shown and the fact that these renderings remained unreleased for decades, it does make sense that they would show the system operating at its intended base of operations.
The Ford Bronco and the T-38 chase plane also dates the art back to at least the mid 1990s, but more likely the late 1980s. This is quite important because a Boeing patent from that time period describes a very similar space-launch system.
[snip - lots of supporting circumstantial evidence not included here - read the article if interested]
All this may seem to build a somewhat compelling case that an aircraft like the one in shown in Boeing's patent and artwork actually exists or existed. Certainly, the confluence of events in the latter half of the 1980s really seems like the perfect breeding ground for such a concept to be pursued. But we have no hard proof this was indeed the outcome. The truth is that the evidence remains largely circumstantial.
It's probably safe to assume that if a Brilliant Buzzard or Blackstar did become a reality, it either failed to produce the results that were expected of it, or it was sacked due to fiscal reasons, which is quite likely if this thing was born in the Reagan era and fought for its life in the post-Cold War military draw-down of the 1990s. And even if it did exist, it would have been an entirely experimental vehicle, or at best a very low density, high-value and highly classified asset, never really making it out of a semi-operational state and into larger production.
It's somewhat intriguing to think that once again we are in a near-perfect threat environment for such a concept to flourish into existence. And the strange nature of the new hangar at Area 51 does point to this possibility. With all the fiscal weight the Pentagon is now putting behind flexible space launch, hypersonic capabilities, and time-sensitive strike and reconnaissance, it's almost a bit hard to imagine that companies like Boeing aren't dusting off their old plans—or even old planes—and applying 30 years of technological advancement to them in an attempt to make the Air Force's dreams come true.
