Wow, the SpaceX engineers really are good, huh. Amazing stuff!
Can anyone explain why it was necessary to catch it chopsticks-style instead of landing it on the ground like they had been doing with the smaller boosters?
Weight. It always comes down to weight. Landing legs will add a lot of extra weight.
Plus it’ll make it easier to quickly restack everything for multiple launches, for stuff like orbital assembly and refueling. We’ll be able to replace the ISS in a week with this thing, once they get a small workhorse fleet going.
It’s tricky to know how to feel about this when so much of what Musk’s companies produce amounts to vaporware.
It’s definitely an amazing technical achievement, and props to the engineers, but it definitely feels tainted when the man who finances the whole thing really shouldn’t be allowed to still have security clearance for a litany of painfully obvious reasons.
Beautifully done, honestly amazing, but with Musk it’s always in the back of my head “what aren’t we being told about this?”
Something to keep in mind, while Elon is SpaceX CEO/CTO, and does have influence over the company, the operation has changed greatly over the last decade. He does not finance the company in any form.
The funding is coming from both government contracts such as NASA, DOD and other the letter agencies, as well as private payloads for various other firms including his side piece Starlink. The operation is under intense scrutiny and is being closely monitored.
Further don’t fall for the PR campaign, while EM is a capable engineer, he is predominantly a figurehead that talks a good talk. The day to day engineering is done by hundreds of much more qualified people. The man splits his time between a bunch of different organizations, it’s an impossibility that he is responsible for anything you are seeing happen today, in much the same way a retired football players commentary on todays game has any influence on its outcome.
It wouldn’t be completely surprising if one day he and his brother are ousted by the board of one of these companies.
I think you’re letting Muskegon get too much in your head
This is all pretty much out in the open. We have a pretty clear idea on where they stand and what are still open issues. One word: heat shield. That’s probably the bit where they’re furthest away from a definite solution. And the reliability of those raptors is also a huge issue. Just look at the fire in the booster after the catch today. So yeah, great achievement, long way to go.
I am amazed at the achievement, and even more amazed at how much people can cheer at anything like madmen.
