3 ms·

I wonder if the reusable rockets from SpaceX could recover from a flipped position during re-entry?

• exDM69 12y ago
  No, they can't. Once you're supersonic, the aerodynamic stress will tear a rocket into shreds if there's even a few degrees of angle of attack.
  • Gravityloss 12y ago
    But if you're high enough, the forces are not very high, so there's probably a Q limit, (that is, proportional to density * speed^2).
    • lutorm 12y ago
      Yeah, the landing attempts obviously flip before entry, while they're out of the atmosphere.