9 ms·
> does Starship have to dock again why can't it just go straight back into earth Because Moon-bound Starship will be quite different from Earth-bound - not eno
by avmich 6y ago
> does Starship have to dock again why can't it just go straight back into earth
Because Moon-bound Starship will be quite different from Earth-bound - not enough to not call it Starship, but still - the Moon-bound will be optimized for less gravity (different legs?), no atmosphere (no wings), braking using engines in the middle of the body, not in the tail section, Moon-specific systems like ladder or elevator etc.
- m4rtink 6y agoAFAIK lunar Starship still has Raptors in the tail that do most of the burns, the "belt" engines are only used for the final landing phase to reduce the ammount of regolith kicked up by the rocket plumes contact with the surface.
- dillondoyle 6y agoInteresting. So would still do a 'dock' and could come back on a different Starship, Dragon, or SLS it sounds like