Rocket propulsion is literally the most efficient chemical propulsion known to exist. The only reusable system yet devised was the STS, and it cost between $500 million and $1 billion just to launch and recycle, every single time.
The proposed man-rated vehicle to put Americans back into space on American hardware won’t be able to get off the ground without extended versions of the solid rocket boosters used on the STS. It would literally be possible to just forget about the new liquid-fueled system — which is a pork barrel and nothing more — and loft future astronauts on the (reusable) SRBs.
It won’t happen.
Agreed.
3x
The irony of our comments, and SpaceShipTwo’s ‘incident’ was lost on me until just now
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/10/31/spaceshiptwo-flew-on-untested-rocket-motor.html
I hate to burst your bubble (well maybe “hate” is a strong word), but SpaceX has basically already done it. Check out this link that logi_cal869 posted from space.com of an article published in August. Here is an excerpt:
“The most recent reusability test, which occurred last month during a launch for commercial-satellite firm Orbcomm, was also a success, SpaceX representatives said. Indeed, SpaceX released a video captured by a camera on the Falcon 9 first stage that shows its measured descent and controlled entry into the Atlantic Ocean.”
In other words, they made a soft landing into the ocean. This shows that they have everything in place, and for their December launch they will be doing a soft landing on a platform in the Atlantic. It seems silly to say that they should “just forget about the new liquid-fueled system” since they showed back in July that it does virtually everything they want it to do from start to finish.