[ExI] musk catches one

[spike at rainier66.com]

-----Original Message-----
From: extropy-chat <extropy-chat-bounces at lists.extropy.org> On Behalf Of
BillK via extropy-chat
ubject: Re: [ExI] musk catches one

On Mon, 21 Oct 2024 at 01:30, spike jones via extropy-chat
<extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote:
> Oh that landing is just so cool, I could watch that a thousand times:
> https://twitter.com/i/status/1848028795489436039
> spike
> _______________________________________________


>...Follow-up enthusiastic article with many photos.
Next year, they will probably try to catch the Starship upper stage as well.
This will be much more difficult, as it will be returning from high-speed
orbital flight.

<https://arstechnica.com/space/2024/10/after-seeing-hundreds-of-launches-spa
cexs-rocket-catch-was-a-new-thrill/>

BillK
_______________________________________________

BillK I agree, partially.  Catching an upper stage might be more difficult
but not because of its having been at much higher speed.  That extra speed
is scrubbed off during re-entry.  I agree it is a very difficult engineering
task because weight is much more critical on the much smaller and lighter
orbiter.  So the weight penalty of stanchions will be very significant, and
the margins much closer, with regard to getting back with enough fuel to do
that super-cool backwards landing trick.

spike