4 ms·
> the barge outweighs the rocket by orders of magnitude The energy amount the rocket impacts with is dominated by its speed, not its mass. A small, fast-travel
by rdancer 10y ago
> the barge outweighs the rocket by orders of magnitude
The energy amount the rocket impacts with is dominated by its speed, not its mass. A small, fast-travelling projectile can make a hole in just about any kind of armour. The terminal velocity is quite low, but that's in part because of the way it is engineered — an ICBM would probably be able to put a hole through a ship deck with ease.
There is a lot of reasoning by analogy vs. reasoning from first principles going on, and the latter seems to be winning. But the main driver of the space industry is governmental funding, not commercial. Much of those statements were probably political; SpaceX have prevailed, and indeed found some champions of their own (John McCain is rabidly behind them, and some of the statements he comes up with are ludicrous in their own right, for example), though not before enduring some setbacks.
- x5n1 10y agof = ma.
- ansible 10y agoThe energy amount the rocket impacts with is dominated by its speed, not its mass. A small, fast-travelling projectile can make a hole in just about any kind of armour. The terminal velocity is quite low, but that's in part because of the way it is engineered — an ICBM would probably be able to put a hole through a ship deck with ease. While what you've said is true, in practice it isn't a problem. If the F9 first stage is out of control and going too fast, it will almost certainly miss the barge to begin with. The barge is small, the ocean is big, and the F9 has to maneuver very precisely to reach it. If it does reach the barge, it will likely be moving relatively slow, and thus is less likely to sink the barge, even it things go crazy at the last moment.
- MertsA 10y agoThat brings up an interesting question, can't the range safety officer just scuttle the first stage after separation? I can't imagine that they don't have that capability after separation.
- ansible 10y agoAfter a certain point in the stage 1 ascent, they disable the FTS (flight termination system). I suppose they could turn it back on for landing.