4 ms·
Watching the video again, I see that the SuperDracos are mounted pretty high up in the sides. Given the fuel tanks, Draco manouvering thrusters, life support s
by mhandley 12y ago
Watching the video again, I see that the SuperDracos are mounted pretty high up in the sides. Given the fuel tanks, Draco manouvering thrusters, life support system and so on are mounted lower down or in the base, plus the weight of the heat shield, I suspect the SuperDraco's are mounted above the centre of mass of the Dragon. This means it would be statically stable on just two opposite clusters. Four SuperDracos have 64,000lbs of thrust, which should be plenty. So, yes, I think it could cope with losing two engines in the same cluster.
- mikeash 12y agoThe height of the engines compared to the center of mass doesn't actually influence stability. The thrust vector turns with the vessel, so it's neutrally stable whether the engines are above or below. This is called the pendulum rocket fallacy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pendulum_rocket_fallacy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pendulum_rocket_fallacy But don't feel bad, as you're in good company: Robert Goddard made the same mistake.