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No, the ablative material is white (like on the center core). The darker fins are the fancy new titanium fins (note they're a little larger too). Not sure why
by JshWright 9y ago
No, the ablative material is white (like on the center core). The darker fins are the fancy new titanium fins (note they're a little larger too).
Not sure why they went with the new fins on the side cores and not the center core... The side cores are going to have a pretty tame reentry (gentler than a Falcon 9 to LEO), while the center core will be coming in very hot. Currently they only use the titanium fins on very hot GTO reentries.
- jacquesm 9y agoAh right, thank you.
- emilecantin 9y agoOn the SpaceX subreddit, I've seen a few mention that it's probably because of the different aerodynamics with a nose cone; they need more control authority in that case.