I am sure there is and an example might be the Russian Klipper. I wish there’d be more stuff out there. But I don’t think that the capsule vs. lifting-body argument holds water. A capsule is what you do when you want to fly something quickly, not a lifting body. Most problems were solved by adding “wings” to the lifting bodies for stability. As for the TPS it depends wher you’re coming back from…

Not true, not really anyway. There is a lot of work still required to ensure these lifting bodies work. In particular for the TPS and the so called runway landing. Most of them would land at speeds that no tire can sustain, today anyway. There are several issues with stability at low speed. Hence most require the use of “wings”. I believe the X-33 originally did not have any wings (can’t find any pic though). Wings are a problem since they create additional mass that has no use in space not to mention leading edge heating. However one might argue that parachutes have mass too and there is a trade space here. But wings may require a landing gear. Also a “winged” lifting body on a LV will induce a lot of non symmetrical loads and these are not trivial. The TPS is exposed in most cases like for Dream Chaser. Etc. I will argue that X-38 is the closest we ever came BUT it suffered from some aero heating issues if I remember correctly, if nothing else. Also remember the darn thing landed under a parafoil… So many concepts so little cash and time.

No one on CEV wanted to hear anything about lifting bodies after Griffin came onboard, take it for what it is…

On a side note. You’re lucky you knew Dale Reed. Another time another era and he faced a lot of challenges with his ideas… But people were willing to take (some) risks back then:

http://books.google.com/books?id=iBgJP3jQKcgC&dq=Dale+reed+lifting+body&printsec=frontcover&source=bn&hl=en&ei=qBCHS83INY3ctgO0253hBw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CAwQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=&f=false

This is the panic I was talking about. Like back in sixties panic = knee jerk capsule. The Dream Chaser has a development plan that dates back to the HL-20 and Russian Bor lifting body. Including drop test and actual re-entry test. There are other lifting body designs besides Dream Chaser that have been thoroughly wind tunnel tested by FDL, designs scrubbed and production ready. Many are unaware of the extensive amount of research done on lifting bodies back in late 60’s and 70’s. Having known the late Dale Reed and absorbed some of his knowledge and insights along with other lifting body old timers I can assure you the learning curve is not as steep as many imagine. Much of the work is already done and waiting including drop test and TPS. If the money is available many of these designs could be fast tracked to flight ready vehicles in a very short time span.

I could get a lifting body up and flying including the launch system in three to four years if the money was made available today. You just need to know the right people and companies to make it happen.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1la44B5odeg

China’s not communist, its fascist. NAZI Germany was not socialist, it was fascist. The ruling oligarchy in China are making themselves into a new ruling aristocracy where most of the wealthy in China come from the politcal ruling class. This has nothing to do with communism.

Too late! The panic already happened back in 2005.

Another unreal argument. SpaceX did not win any CCDev while Sierra Nevada did. Moreover, do you have any idea what it will take to make the Dream Chaser work when compared to a capsule? Let me remind you that the “gap” starts next year.

Absolutely and so what did Constellation demonstrate? I mean really demonstrate? That we cannot do it anymore, great! What a proof of super power dominance!