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> In the past we even had space ships, which could start from ground, go to space, do stuff, come back and the could be reused The 're-used' aspect of the Shut
by KineticLensman 8y ago
> In the past we even had space ships, which could start from ground, go to space, do stuff, come back and the could be reused
The 're-used' aspect of the Shuttle involved massive re-fits which took months for each vehicle. It was like having to send your car back to the manufacturer for a total rebuild (often including engine change) every time you went for a drive. SpaceX is a massive improvement in this respect.
- jacquesm 8y agoAnd two expended boosters and an expended fuel tank.
- HALtheWise 8y agoNitpick: the boosters were reused by parachute splashdown, but it was also really expensive due to (among other things) the corrosiveness of salt water. The External Tank was in fact expended.
- KineticLensman 8y agoEach SRB consisted of 11 cylindrical steel sections. After flight and recovery, these were dismantled, refilled with solid rocket fuel as appropriate, and then reconnected to form a new SRB with all of the O-rings, etc. So also a complete rebuild, with reuse occurring at the segment level, not of the whole booster assembly.