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Space Stations, Space Shuttles and Beyond - The Aerospace Discussion Thread
Kugai:
The thing is, the RN had the option very early on of going down the route of CATOBAR and developing it's own combat aircraft - either a development of the Typhoon or taking the plunge and going with the Navalised version of the Rafelle, but some bright spark in the DoD decided to go with the F-35.
Then you got all the chop and change that went on with the Queen Elizabeth Class during development and construction, the DoD and the Govt hemming and hawing over which projects to fund/defund, what to change etc, etc, etc, and now their lumbered with two very large ornaments in Portsmouth, which probably won't even go to sea for another year or two at best.
Can anyone remember TR-2?
Anything strike you as similar?
BenRG:
Okay, new topic!
SpaceX Plans to Recover First Stage of Falcon-9 Rocket!
On the various space forums I frequent, SpaceX's plans have been a hot topic for about two years now. In essence, the first stage of the Falcon-9 launch vehicle has landing legs, variable-drag aerodynamic steering surfaces and, at least in theory, the ability to soft-land (in this case on a ocean-going barge).
Now, NASA used to recover the casings of the solid rocket motors for the Shuttle all the time. However, Elon Musk (never a guy to do things by half-measures) is proposing to land, service and re-use a first-stage rocket, a bit like how the shuttle orbiters were reused. There is one big difference, though: Musk's ultimate plan is for the turn-around service to be ultimately in airline time-scales - hours rather than the months it took for the shuttle - and also for it to be simple - just a quick once-over by the mechanics, refuel and ready to go again.
This is all very exciting because, at least in theory, it could massively bring down the cost of space flight if you could recover and reuse parts of the rocket multiple times rather than having to continually build new ones.
So, is he crazy... (no, wait, this is Elon Musk; of course he's crazy). Is this idea realistic or will it fail? What do you all think?
jwhouk:
I think that high-speed tube thingy will come to fruition before that will.
Kugai:
Or the Space Elevator
Which, on the whole, is a lot better idea.
hedgie:
The only real down-side I can see to that idea is the Muzak on such a long ride. Well, and potentially nasty effects in case of catastrophic failure (see Heinlein's "Friday"), so it'd best placed away from population centers.
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