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First to land upright from orbital flight.

by tintor 6y ago

madengr 6y ago
The retro-rockets on 1976 Viking lander in Mars don’t count? Of course that had a parachute to assist, but I think it was still going really fast.
- mulmen 6y ago
  Sounds like the Russians actually did it in 1971? Also since we are already speaking extra terrestrially Apollo 11 landed propulsively in 1969, with humans on board and it got back to orbit! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viking_1#Lander https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viking_1#Lander https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_3#Entry,_descent,_landing,_transmission,_and_failure https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_3#Entry,_descent,_landing...
everyone 6y ago
Not orbital. Sub-orbital. Only their 1st stage rocket has landed, which mainly goes up, its nowhere near orbital velocity. They plan to land the 2nd stage of starship, which will have reached orbital speeds. But that is a huge challenge that they have not attempted yet.
mulmen 6y ago
On top of the great points made by sibling comments the Apollo Lunar Modules landed propulsively from orbit with an additional party trick of having humans on board. Also Blue Origin actually did propulsive sub-orbital landing from space to Earth before SpaceX, although admittedly from a lower altitude and velocity. Both came after the 1990s era Delta Clipper. Before that there were probably a lot of Apollo era test vehicles. Each one got a bit higher and faster. This is the value SpaceX offers. They're doing the hard work of making things we know are possible also commercially viable.
sudosysgen 6y ago
When did SpaceX ever do a powered landing from orbital flight? The first ones that did, by the way, are the Soviets in the early 70s.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- mulmen 6y ago
  Do you mean on Earth? If you are talking about Soyuz, that was actually 1967! If you mean space probes it’s actually more impressive, the Soviets landed a probe on the moon in 1966: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luna_9 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luna_9
  - sudosysgen 6y ago
    Ah sorry, I meant in atmosphere! But you are of course right!

First to land upright from orbital flight.

by tintor 6y ago

First to land upright from orbital flight.

The retro-rockets on 1976 Viking lander in Mars don’t count? Of course that had a parachute to assist, but I think it was still going really fast.

mulmen 6y ago
Sounds like the Russians actually did it in 1971? Also since we are already speaking extra terrestrially Apollo 11 landed propulsively in 1969, with humans on board and it got back to orbit! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viking_1#Lander https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viking_1#Lander https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_3#Entry,_descent,_landing,_transmission,_and_failure https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_3#Entry,_descent,_landing...

everyone 6y ago

Not orbital. Sub-orbital. Only their 1st stage rocket has landed, which mainly goes up, its nowhere near orbital velocity. They plan to land the 2nd stage of starship, which will have reached orbital speeds. But that is a huge challenge that they have not attempted yet.

mulmen 6y ago

On top of the great points made by sibling comments the Apollo Lunar Modules landed propulsively from orbit with an additional party trick of having humans on board. Also Blue Origin actually did propulsive sub-orbital landing from space to Earth before SpaceX, although admittedly from a lower altitude and velocity. Both came after the 1990s era Delta Clipper. Before that there were probably a lot of Apollo era test vehicles. Each one got a bit higher and faster. This is the value SpaceX offers. They're doing the hard work of making things we know are possible also commercially viable.

sudosysgen 6y ago

When did SpaceX ever do a powered landing from orbital flight? The first ones that did, by the way, are the Soviets in the early 70s.

deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
mulmen 6y ago
Do you mean on Earth? If you are talking about Soyuz, that was actually 1967! If you mean space probes it’s actually more impressive, the Soviets landed a probe on the moon in 1966: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luna_9 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luna_9
- sudosysgen 6y ago
  Ah sorry, I meant in atmosphere! But you are of course right!