4 ms·
I was just talking about the minimal viable product. Yeah, metal foam is something you can make in space but not on Earth and it might be valuable to send metal
by Symmetry 6y ago
I was just talking about the minimal viable product. Yeah, metal foam is something you can make in space but not on Earth and it might be valuable to send metal down for that reason. Using a glider will increase uncertainty about where the results end up, though, compared to a simpler measure of decent. I think accepting some ablation as the price of accuracy is probably the way to go.
- LargoLasskhyfv 6y agoHonestly I don't think this would be a really big problem. But to be absolutely sure nothing bad can ever happen(TM): Why not have purpose built catching planes match up with them, once they are low and slow enough? I imagine something Airbus A380 sized, or large Antonovs, C5 Galaxy, releasing a clamp or hook on a cable or boom, connecting to that glider in the air. And tow it to its designated splash down area. Like in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mid-air_retrieval https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mid-air_retrieval There! Solved that for you :)
- Kim_Bruning 6y agoDepends on if you put some control software on the glider. Generally a controllable aerodynamic shape gives you a good amount of cross-range ability to pick your landing ground, and a good amount of accuracy to land there with precision.