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The boosters were actually parachuted back down to earth and reused. Though the general consensus is that it didn't save any money, and may have been more expen
by bluehawk 10y ago
The boosters were actually parachuted back down to earth and reused. Though the general consensus is that it didn't save any money, and may have been more expensive than if they had just been disposable.
- mikeyouse 10y agoYeah they would parachute into the ocean, get filled with air, then literally dragged back to port: http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/solid-rocket-booster-recovery-ship-liberty-star-tows-one-of-news-photo/51581818?esource=SEO_GIS_CDN_Redirect#solid-rocket-booster-recovery-ship-liberty-star-tows-one-of-the-space-picture-id51581818 http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/solid-rocket-bo... All that stress + salt water meant a fairly extensive refurb process.
- sqeaky 10y agoThese seem like problems with that design, not something fundamental. Could one conceivably use different materials (that maybe didn't exist back then) resistant to aquatic stress and salt, to have made the old plan much more cost effective? Following this line of thought I think you wind up with something close to what SpaceX does. Because the next largest save-able cost would be the boat crew to go recover it. So attach a propeller to the rocket to have it come back on its own. Then you want to save that cost and complexity so have it come to your boat with no crew and touch down gently.