4 ms·
On-pad airbags to cushion a toppling rocket that's had an otherwise near-perfect approach?
by scrumper 11y ago
On-pad airbags to cushion a toppling rocket that's had an otherwise near-perfect approach?
- lmm 11y agoSometimes the pictures lose the sense of scale - the stage they're landing is something like 20 stories high, and the engines alone weigh around 4 tonnes. Also anything you put on the pad has to survive being torched by a rocket plume as it comes in for landing - even the concrete is pretty scorched. So that kind of system would be pretty hard to implement - and even if it were workable, Musk is mainly interested in landing systems that will work on Mars too.