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Landing on the grid fins would be a really bad idea. Even though they're car-sized, they're not load bearing and "only" made of steel (not titanium etc. .. just
by Culonavirus 2y ago
Landing on the grid fins would be a really bad idea. Even though they're car-sized, they're not load bearing and "only" made of steel (not titanium etc. .. just yet). Starship's Raptors blast during hot staging is enough to bend them on the top. https://www.reddit.com/r/SpaceXLounge/comments/1g3bi7s/grid_fin_damage_during_hot_staging/ https://www.reddit.com/r/SpaceXLounge/comments/1g3bi7s/grid_...
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- m4rtink 2y agoThey need to be able to handle some forces but indeed likely not an equivalent of half or even quarter of the booster landing weight.
- cubefox 2y agoThough the original plan was indeed to land it on the (reinforced?) grid fins: https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1344327757916868608 https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1344327757916868608 I actually think there is some old Starbase tour interview where a SpaceX guy implied it was Musk's idea, though I could be misremembering. Catching the booster kind of makes sense, since they needed the tower arms anyway for stacking and unstacking.