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This would be a perfect Starship payload. I don't buy that human beings will ever reenter earth's atmosphere in Starship and land propulsively. There is simply
by ramesh31 2y ago
This would be a perfect Starship payload. I don't buy that human beings will ever reenter earth's atmosphere in Starship and land propulsively. There is simply too much safety advantage in an aerodynamically landable aircraft or parachute capsule to do it any other way.
- phkahler 2y agoFalcon 9 has a landings are more reliable now than space shuttle launches. I'm not sure how the Starship flip would make people feel.
- ramesh31 2y agoYou cannot compare the suborbital booster return to an oribital reentry, they are two completely different things. No SpaceX vehicle but Crew Dragon (a capsule) has ever returned astronauts from space, and I suspect it will be the only solution for a long time to come.
- phkahler 2y ago>> You cannot compare the suborbital booster return to an oribital reentry, they are two completely different things. Agreed, but I expect Starship to be doing the same in a few years.
- avmich 2y agoI do think that if we'd make Shuttle today, it would be much more reliable than it was. Successes of vertical Falcon-9 landings notwithstanding.
- avmich 2y agoMostly agree. Winged design can be much gentler for passing the atmosphere on the way back comparing to capsules and can probably even get passively to landing speed, the drawback being the requirements of the landing strip. They are also better to control, both with choosing the place to land and even with ability of having atmospheric engines, which would get them close to aircrafts in handling landing.