Centauri's Thoughts

this is interesting

The Langley group's conclusion: if you want a spaceship that operates like an airplane, power it with rockets and only rockets.

Trying to build a spaceship by making airplanes fly faster and higher is like trying to build an airplane by making locomotives faster and lighter - with a lot of effort, perhaps you could get something that more or less works, but it really isn't the right way to proceed. The problems are fundamentally different, and so are the best solutions.

I know they are looking at both approaches, and air-breathing hybrids with rocket engines seems in the news, so this gives pause for thought.