Posted on 04/18/2015 3:17:33 PM PDT by BenLurkin
This deep gravity well we sit in is always going to be a problem for rockets.
We need a space elevator but that costs a few bucks and presents a different set of problems.
So the gummint can’t get they grubby hands on it!
That won't do because the thrust/weight ratio is >1 even at minimum throttle. They throttle back too much and the candle snuffs out with no time for relight. 30 fps at 30' is no problem to zero, the trick is to do away with the horizontal motion and have that last 30' be straight down to the pad.
I think if they didnt have to aim for such a relatively small target, they would be successful.
Maybe they should send both barges out there and have terminal guidance pick the easier one. Too bad they can't launch from a barge and maneuver it so there's an baseball diamond at the right spot for a landing...after all those ISS launches could go south just as well.
The launch was still a success; the thing didn’t blow up when it was taking off...
/johnny
I was wondering why they didn’t land it on a desert or something.
Processors are literally a million times faster today than what was available for Apollo’s day.
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Did you read that article? It is about capturing an engine, not the entire rocket.
SPECTRE, Osato Industries, and the Red Chinese collaborated and figured landing in a dormant volcano instead of that ocean thingy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dnaorqo6krg
Yes, and yes.
Hell bring it straight down like a bullet and put a bulls eye on the landing platform.
I guess my ‘catch it with a net’ idea is shot down by omission?
We can land rovers on Mars, but not boosters back to Earth... And why doesn’t Musk use parachutes for the booster landing???
Yes they will, I have seen how quickly they are progressing, it is amazing
Why not just use a skyhook with some shoreline?
Why not go with a drilling platform? The stage can then be offloaded to a barge with the platform crane.
With that (non-)constraint, so could others.
It might work, but my question would be, then what? You've got a rocket sitting on a net in the ocean. How do you get it back to shore and get it off the net?
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