how much money and time would a robotic lashing system cost? hint: a shitload. how much money would a few ditched rockets cost, in comparison? hint: less than a shitload would a recovery crew approach this platform in rough seas, even if a robotic lash were in place? hint: nope then what exactly is the point of securing this 'cargo'? hint: there isn't one. problem solved.
The point of securing the cargo is to prevent it being lost to toppling, sliding off the side, or being catapulted off the side of a rolling deck. And yes, it will be secured. The previous recovered rocket was secured, this one will be too.
Am i missing something, is the need to land vertically a requirement of a fragile fuselage? Seems wasteful to carry extra anything (in this case rocket propellant) to space, just to avoid having to re-right the rocket when you get it back on earth for a subsequent launch. Is extra fuel payload < landing gear or parachutes?
If it's such a good idea, why don't all airlines use it for airplane landings?
Ya, because SpaceX is the only company to have ever transported something on the deck of the ship. It was a rocket until the moment it landed. Now it's cargo.
This isn't my area of expertise and what you've said certainly makes sense, however from my understanding ship-to-ship, or in this case ship-to-barge, boardings at sea aren't without their own inherent risks. It could be that having the first stage untethered is deemed less risky to personnel than having a team of welders board the barge and tie it down.
The key is movement. Doing something like moving objects from one ship to another is pretty standard, but only in good conditions and normally not when the ship is moving. The rocket may well be safe to stand on the ship at the moment it lands. The conditions at that moment are good enough to make the choice to do the move. Once it is on the ship, that choice is over. Conditions change, most dramatically in that the stationary ship is going to drive away to port. Not bringing the object aboard is no longer an option, as it was prior to the rocket landing. Under those conditions the cargo has to be secured not against current conditions, but against all possible conditions.
Wikipedia says Ariane 6's first test flight is scheduled for 2020, and Adeline will arrive between 2025 and 2030. Meanwhile, SpaceX plans to launch a Mars mission in 2018.
There's a lot of skepticism about that 2018 date.
Coming from a lot of the people who have doubted reusable rocket engines...
Coming from a lot of the people who have doubted reusable rocket engines...
I don't think so. Engines have been used before. Rockets have been landed on their tails by many organizations. And I don't think too many people doubt SpaceX can go to Mars. The questions are over the date.
This isn't my area of expertise and what you've said certainly makes sense, however from my understanding ship-to-ship, or in this case ship-to-barge, boardings at sea aren't without their own inherent risks. It could be that having the first stage untethered is deemed less risky to personnel than having a team of welders board the barge and tie it down.
The key is movement. Doing something like moving objects from one ship to another is pretty standard, but only in good conditions and normally not when the ship is moving. The rocket may well be safe to stand on the ship at the moment it lands. The conditions at that moment are good enough to make the choice to do the move. Once it is on the ship, that choice is over. Conditions change, most dramatically in that the…
Lake Michigan seems like a pretty easy target and it's 100% American territory.
The barge was located about 400 miles downrange of the launch site in this case, so if you're landing in Lake Michigan then you're launching from somewhere around western Iowa/Minnesota or eastern Nebraska/South Dakota. When your rocket goes off course or explodes, you'll rain parts and fuel down on Minneapolis or Chicago or whatever other inconvenient population happens to be in the way.
This is a typical engineer conversation.
"Oh, I'm sure I know a lot better than the accumulated centuries' worth of knowledge from actual rocket scientists, and I can come up with solutions to their problems based on no in-depth knowledge of the field and a minute's thought."