4 ms·

- salt water is horrific for anything - time to transport, move back into initial position.

simonw 2y ago
That makes sense - sending out barges / recovery vehicles into the ocean can't be cheap. The environmental impact of a chopsticks landing is likely a whole lot less damaging too.
singleshot_ 2y ago
What do you figure is worse for chemical changes to materials, being engulfed in a big call of plasma, or being dunked in the ocean? I don’t know any chemistry but there seem to be a lot of smart people round here. What say you?
- lukeschlather 2y ago
  Seagoing ships are good at being in salt water but don't deal as well with being engulfed in plasma. Starship is pretty good at being engulfed in plasma but doesn't handle being engulfed in salt water very well. Making a single ship that can handle both is a very tall order, even just doing one or the other is hard.
  - shiroiushi 2y ago
    Seagoing ships are pretty good at floating on top of salt water for a while, but they're not very good at being "dunked" in it (i.e. sunken). It is possible to raise sunken ships and rehabilitate them to regular service, and this has been before, but it generally destroys everything inside, and requires a ton of work. Salt water is one of the most corrosive substances we know of.
- iterance 2y ago
  Ocean is worse. (For rockets.) - used to be an engineer in aerospace
- piombisallow 2y ago
  Designing it for both is probably worse than either one separately
- jojobas 2y ago
  Being dunked in seawater while still being red/white hot from the plasma.
- wbl 2y ago
  Dunked in the ocean. There just isn't a ton of plasma and it's not very good at transferring heat to things it isn't being pressed up against. So heat shields and the like function very well. Seawater by contrast gets everywhere, and if it does even a little damage, keeps doing it for a long time.
- chroma 2y ago
  A lot of the damage happens as soon as the spacecraft enters the water, because it's extremely hot, causing more chemical reactions than you might think. Even jet engines have trouble with corrosion from ingesting small amounts of aerosolized salt water.[1] 1. https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/19690007944/downloads/19690007944.pdf https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/19690007944/downloads/19...
fixprix 2y ago
This is the answer. Salt water destroys the engines.

That makes sense - sending out barges / recovery vehicles into the ocean can't be cheap. The environmental impact of a chopsticks landing is likely a whole lot less damaging too.

singleshot_ 2y ago

What do you figure is worse for chemical changes to materials, being engulfed in a big call of plasma, or being dunked in the ocean? I don’t know any chemistry but there seem to be a lot of smart people round here. What say you?

lukeschlather 2y ago
Seagoing ships are good at being in salt water but don't deal as well with being engulfed in plasma. Starship is pretty good at being engulfed in plasma but doesn't handle being engulfed in salt water very well. Making a single ship that can handle both is a very tall order, even just doing one or the other is hard.
- shiroiushi 2y ago
  Seagoing ships are pretty good at floating on top of salt water for a while, but they're not very good at being "dunked" in it (i.e. sunken). It is possible to raise sunken ships and rehabilitate them to regular service, and this has been before, but it generally destroys everything inside, and requires a ton of work. Salt water is one of the most corrosive substances we know of.
iterance 2y ago
Ocean is worse. (For rockets.) - used to be an engineer in aerospace
piombisallow 2y ago
Designing it for both is probably worse than either one separately
jojobas 2y ago
Being dunked in seawater while still being red/white hot from the plasma.
wbl 2y ago
Dunked in the ocean. There just isn't a ton of plasma and it's not very good at transferring heat to things it isn't being pressed up against. So heat shields and the like function very well. Seawater by contrast gets everywhere, and if it does even a little damage, keeps doing it for a long time.
chroma 2y ago
A lot of the damage happens as soon as the spacecraft enters the water, because it's extremely hot, causing more chemical reactions than you might think. Even jet engines have trouble with corrosion from ingesting small amounts of aerosolized salt water.[1] 1. https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/19690007944/downloads/19690007944.pdf https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/19690007944/downloads/19...

fixprix 2y ago

This is the answer. Salt water destroys the engines.