Dumb question: why can't they land (drop) into a large pool filled with some inert liquid?
Probably because a rocket engine is pretty hot on landing, so the thermal shock upon contact with the liquid would deform it or cause cracks.
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SpaceX Plans to Land Next Falcon 9 on Solid Ground
91–100 of 140 posts
Re: SpaceX Plans to Land Next Falcon 9 on Solid Ground
#92I saw this on the planned launch schedule a few days ago. The date mentioned there is 22 July 2015. I was surprised they were getting clearance to try so soon since they haven't quite nailed sea landings yet. I guess it could be argued they have seem to have the navigation part down pretty well though, minimizing the odds they will drop this in a neighbourhood.
Since they're launching that one out of Vandenberg, maybe the Air Force is more accommodating to crazy schemes like this than NASA is, or maybe the facilities are just ready for it there first.
Re: SpaceX Plans to Land Next Falcon 9 on Solid Ground
#93What was the % cost reduction in being able to land the boosters again? I read it somewhere a while back but can't find it. It was pretty significant if I recall. TIA.
The first stage accounts for about 75% of the total cost of the Falcon 9, so best case would be a 75% cost reduction. Any refurbishment needed before flying again would reduce that, as well as whatever fixed costs there are for a launch, like fuel, salaries for on-site workers, consumable launch pad equipment, or whatever. Refurbishment is the big wild card. If the rocket is ready to go again with no work then it could come close to that 75% reduction. If it requires extensive work before it can fly again then it could be a lot smaller.
Re: SpaceX Plans to Land Next Falcon 9 on Solid Ground
#94Earlier quoted context omitted.
If Dragon lands on some other planet, how does it get back without a stage 1 also landing on said planet?
It's refueled in-situ and launched back up with a minimal payload weight. Getting off the surface of Mars back into an orbit with a low weight (basically crew + life support + minimal payload) is pretty straightforward, considering the low gravity and thin atmosphere. From there, you can dock to a much larger tug ship and go back to Earth orbit, refueling on orbit and landing propulsively again.
I didn't spend the time searching google to provide citations, but it is feasible to generate fuel autonomously on the Martian surface and store it for future use.
Can we launch a vehicle that will de-orbit, safely land, and then begin processing fuel using nuclear (edit: I removed solar here; solar would not provide enough power for such a facility) for power and the Martian atmosphere and soil as feedstock? Not quite yet, but we're getting there.
Re: SpaceX Plans to Land Next Falcon 9 on Solid Ground
#95Mojave Desert seems like a good candidate. I'd let them use my land http://www.ysoheil.com/2014/08/soheils-village.html
Re: SpaceX Plans to Land Next Falcon 9 on Solid Ground
#96I think now that they have proven they can 'hit the hole', almost spot on, they'll be able to get approval to go for a try on cleared land space. It sounds like to me, landing on land would be ideal; less expensive and less risk with stabilization and rough waters.
They need to be able to stabilize the rocket's landing in all sorts of conditions if they want to have any hope of landing it on another planet. It's not like interplanetary launches will be able to schedule launches to choose optimal weather conditions for the landing. Maybe, if they're lucky, they'll be able to orbit briefly to avoid bad weather at the landing site, but moderate winds and wind gusts are going to be…
Yeah, weather is an interesting point. I wonder if having numerous back-up landing sites worldwide would give a robust enough system.
Re: SpaceX Plans to Land Next Falcon 9 on Solid Ground
#97> next attempt to land Not the next F9 launch. They won't have legs the payload needs all the fuel. Next launch after that is a Dragon test so it isn't that one either. Maybe June we'll see that. Those ULA comments at the end are very odd and contradictory.
According to their events page, 22 July will be the first attempted (to use their phrasing) ``land landing''.
Re: SpaceX Plans to Land Next Falcon 9 on Solid Ground
#98> "Just purely the boat moving, even in a low sea state, it's hard to imagine that vehicle is going to stay vertical," Shotwell said. "That vehicle is big and tall, compared to the itty-bity-greater-than-a-football-field-size ship." Is this a new development? This contradicts both a lot of things I read over the Internet (granted, those were not official SpaceX statements) and the apparently still ongoing plans to bu…
If it's actually that serious a problem (and I'm not a rocket scientist, so I don't know), it suggests a solution: stabilize the landing bed on the ship relative to the sea. Perhaps have the bed float above the ship electromagnetically such that you can control the field strength applied to any part of the platform dynamically as the ship bucks underneath it. There might be a reason that people don't let me design la…
Elon Musk actually joked/hinted (in a tweet) that they were making modifications to the barge similar to the flying SHIELD helicarrier.
Re: SpaceX Plans to Land Next Falcon 9 on Solid Ground
#99> "Just purely the boat moving, even in a low sea state, it's hard to imagine that vehicle is going to stay vertical," Shotwell said. "That vehicle is big and tall, compared to the itty-bity-greater-than-a-football-field-size ship." Is this a new development? This contradicts both a lot of things I read over the Internet (granted, those were not official SpaceX statements) and the apparently still ongoing plans to bu…
>granted, those were not official SpaceX statements
From the Elon Musk AMA:
Q: How will you secure the first stage of the Falcon 9 to the barge when it lands? Gravity or some mechanism?
A: 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
http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/2rgsan/i_am_elon_musk_...
Re: SpaceX Plans to Land Next Falcon 9 on Solid Ground
#100Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's refueled in-situ and launched back up with a minimal payload weight. Getting off the surface of Mars back into an orbit with a low weight (basically crew + life support + minimal payload) is pretty straightforward, considering the low gravity and thin atmosphere. From there, you can dock to a much larger tug ship and go back to Earth orbit, refueling on orbit and landing propulsively again.
I didn't spend the time searching google to provide citations, but it is feasible to generate fuel autonomously on the Martian surface and store it for future use. Can we launch a vehicle that will de-orbit, safely land, and then begin processing fuel using nuclear (edit: I removed solar here; solar would not provide enough power for such a facility) for power and the Martian atmosphere and soil as feedstock? Not qui…
I don't think it is so much an issue of ability so much as desire. Most of the tech has been dreamed up for decades, but it needs funding and a green light (particularly the nuclear reactor, given that there were protests about even Curiosity's RTG).
Personally, I think there's a huge amount of talent just waiting for the right moment to strike, and then the whole Mars thing is going to burst right open.