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What happens once it lands successfully? Won't one stray wave tip it right over into the ocean? Those landing struts are only 1/10 the length of the rocket.

by swamp40 12y ago

What happens once it lands successfully? Won't one stray wave tip it right over into the ocean? Those landing struts are only 1/10 the length of the rocket. If this wasn't so tall, it wouldn't be nearly the problem that it is. Are they perhaps really trying to develop a Dragon landing system? And using this extra tall rocket as a worst-case scenario?

atroyn 12y ago
Space X would like to return Falcon to dry land, but given the high chance of failure, they're first trying to do it on the drone ship "Just Read the Instructions" at sea. That way when things go wrong, it's not such a big deal.
- swamp40 12y ago
  But if the sea is the problem...
  - atroyn 12y ago
    It's a carefully considered tradeoff. They've managed to get to the drone ship successfully twice now, and they will need this kind of accuracy in the future.
stevesearer 12y ago
The goal of the barge landings is to prove they can land precisely in a targeted position repeatedly to prove they are able to touchdown on land without accidentally hitting populated places.
smackfu 12y ago
Since it's empty of fuel, and has big metal engines at the very bottom, the center of gravity is surprisingly low. So it should be fairly stable immediately after landing. And then they plan to secure it so it stays upright.
Osmium 12y ago
I'm not an expert, but here's my understanding: > What happens once it lands successfully? It becomes a lot easier to get permission to attempt a landing on dry land. But, as I understand it, they will always need to land some rockets at sea. In the long run, they hope that they can then re-use the rocket, which will drastically reduce the cost of launches. > Are they perhaps really trying to develop a Dragon landing system? They almost certainly are, but this is unrelated to that, I believe. > And using this extra tall rocket as a worst-case scenario? No. The length of the rocket is ultimately determined by the amount of fuel it needs to carry. The first stage will always be very long like this. Note that this rocket came from a successful mission which launched a Dragon capsule to the ISS on a re-supply/science mission.
- smackfu 12y ago
  >But, as I understand it, they will always need to land some rockets at sea. Yeah, this is something I didn't realize. Flying back to land requires fuel, which cuts into the payload capacity. If a payload is too close to capacity, a sea landing may be the only option.
dandelany 12y ago
From Elon's AMA: How would the Falcon 9 would be secured onto the deck of its autonomous spaceport drone ship? "Mostly gravity. The center of gravity is pretty low for the booster, as all the engines and residual propellant is at the bottom. We are going to weld steel shoes over the landing feet as a precautionary measure."

by swamp40 12y ago

atroyn 12y ago

Space X would like to return Falcon to dry land, but given the high chance of failure, they're first trying to do it on the drone ship "Just Read the Instructions" at sea. That way when things go wrong, it's not such a big deal.

swamp40 12y ago
But if the sea is the problem...
- atroyn 12y ago
  It's a carefully considered tradeoff. They've managed to get to the drone ship successfully twice now, and they will need this kind of accuracy in the future.

stevesearer 12y ago

The goal of the barge landings is to prove they can land precisely in a targeted position repeatedly to prove they are able to touchdown on land without accidentally hitting populated places.

smackfu 12y ago

Since it's empty of fuel, and has big metal engines at the very bottom, the center of gravity is surprisingly low. So it should be fairly stable immediately after landing. And then they plan to secure it so it stays upright.

Osmium 12y ago

I'm not an expert, but here's my understanding: > What happens once it lands successfully? It becomes a lot easier to get permission to attempt a landing on dry land. But, as I understand it, they will always need to land some rockets at sea. In the long run, they hope that they can then re-use the rocket, which will drastically reduce the cost of launches. > Are they perhaps really trying to develop a Dragon landing system? They almost certainly are, but this is unrelated to that, I believe. > And using this extra tall rocket as a worst-case scenario? No. The length of the rocket is ultimately determined by the amount of fuel it needs to carry. The first stage will always be very long like this. Note that this rocket came from a successful mission which launched a Dragon capsule to the ISS on a re-supply/science mission.

smackfu 12y ago
>But, as I understand it, they will always need to land some rockets at sea. Yeah, this is something I didn't realize. Flying back to land requires fuel, which cuts into the payload capacity. If a payload is too close to capacity, a sea landing may be the only option.

dandelany 12y ago

From Elon's AMA: How would the Falcon 9 would be secured onto the deck of its autonomous spaceport drone ship? "Mostly gravity. The center of gravity is pretty low for the booster, as all the engines and residual propellant is at the bottom. We are going to weld steel shoes over the landing feet as a precautionary measure."