4 ms·
For the final stage of landing only a single Merlin engine is lit. They're also limited in how much they can control the throttle on it. Even at minimum throt
by will_hughes 12y ago
For the final stage of landing only a single Merlin engine is lit.
They're also limited in how much they can control the throttle on it.
Even at minimum throttle, it's not possible for it to hover.
- justin66 12y agoOdd responses. I guess I shouldn't have phrased my response in the form of a question. Here's another try: > When near fuel exhaustion, the Merlin engine has a thrust to weight ratio above 1. The rocket will always have a thrust to weight ratio well above 1.
- peeters 12y agoI still don't understand the point of your comment then. Yes, the rocket's (potential) TWR will be above 1 at all points of the flight. What does that have to do with the comment you're replying to? The Falcon 9 has 9 engines. The combined thrust of all of them has to be greater than the weight of the fully loaded rocket. That doesn't mean a single engine will always have more thrust than the weight of the entire rocket.
- deleted 12y ago[deleted]
- manicdee 12y agoWhile your statement is technically correct in isolation, you are ignoring the context: "the rocket will have a thrust to weight ratio of greater than what is needed to hover and land safely as the Grasshopper demonstrated. Instead the F9R is limited to using the overpowered Merlin as a braking engine with the intent of reaching 0 soeed at 0 altitude with 0 lateral or rotational motion."
- justin66 12y agoYeah, it's easy to be a little too conversational sometimes in these comments, which leads to misunderstanding. In retrospect I get the feeling everyone understands the limitations of the hardware here.