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Re: Rocket Lunches

#271
Cornflakes_91 wrote:
Sat Feb 03, 2018 11:04 am
"dont ever try to do rocketry better than the russians did since the 60s! its compltely pointless! there can be no improvements!"
Warm seawater is very corrosive - and it's a scientific fact that doesn't depend on your worldview :-)

That's why Boeing's Starliner spaceship potentially has it easier in the terms of re-usability - because it's designed to soft-land on land, and not splash down. SpaceX, as usual, does it a little bit differently, although it's not entirely their fault - NASA just didn't feel comfortable with fully powered landing. Why did they decide to go all the way back and splash down is beyond me; probably, being short on cash and tech, and not feeling they'd convince NASA that they can do a rocket-assisted landing on land anyway.

Russians actually did land some spacecraft on water - the BOR series of reuseable test vehicles, in the Indian ocean, back in the 70s (and I don't know the reason for that, must check and ask people in the know), but the actual vehicle (that later became the Buran) was of course designed to land on a runway.
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Survivor of the Josh Parnell Blackout of 2015.
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Re: Rocket Lunches

#272
outlander wrote:
Sat Feb 03, 2018 11:27 am
Cornflakes_91 wrote:
Sat Feb 03, 2018 11:04 am
"dont ever try to do rocketry better than the russians did since the 60s! its compltely pointless! there can be no improvements!"
Warm seawater is very corrosive - and it's a scientific fact that doesn't depend on your worldview :-)
because there could never be a material that is impervious to seawater?
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Re: Rocket Lunches

#273
Cornflakes_91 wrote:
Sat Feb 03, 2018 11:57 am
because there could never be a material that is impervious to seawater?
It's mostly seals, electronics, sensors, some Al and Al-Mg parts. Some composites don't like water as well, and do unpredictable things. I'd say it's easier to land on land than bother with water-proofing (which is weight, complexity, and more seals :V). Why solve the problem when you can work around it?
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Survivor of the Josh Parnell Blackout of 2015.
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Re: Rocket Lunches

#275
Cornflakes_91 wrote:
Sat Feb 03, 2018 3:40 pm
because the extra stuff and control for soft landing may is more effort than solving the (mostly materials science) problems with water landing. a salt proof seal is also less moving parts than a fine-tuned softland rocket control system :V
/me is not talking about the outside.

You open the hatch, the fine water mist enters the capsule, and starts condensing in all the places :ghost: Why even bother? SpaceX wanted a proper soft landing on the solid ground anyway.
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Survivor of the Josh Parnell Blackout of 2015.
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Re: Rocket Lunches

#278
outlander wrote:
Sat Feb 03, 2018 4:14 pm
Cornflakes_91 wrote:
Sat Feb 03, 2018 4:07 pm
and i wasnt talking about capsules, though :D i was talking about first and second stage ish stuff :D
Ah, OK. In my opinion, the additional engineering challenge of water-proofing is not worth it economically.
well, it maybe isnt. but its not a completely clear-cut thing as soft landing isnt a trivial endeavour either.
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Re: Rocket Lunches

#279
Cornflakes_91 wrote:
Sat Feb 03, 2018 4:17 pm
well, it maybe isnt. but its not a completely clear-cut thing as soft landing isnt a trivial endeavour either.
Nothing about space is clear-cut. But soft-landing on the ground, right at the site where post-landing assessment and maintenance would be performed, seems like an optimal solution - one that reduces time and transportation costs. Water landings have a whole host of stupid problems associated with recovery, transportation, and refurbishment of the flown vehicle / stage. It's not enough to just blow some nitrogen through the engine and call it a day - even in the water-proof design all the components would have to be expected and verified as undamaged just in case (NASA would demand that for sure).

I'd say, there's a strong case to go for soft-landing on land for reusable vehicles.
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Survivor of the Josh Parnell Blackout of 2015.
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Re: Rocket Lunches

#282
<nods> Maiden flights can be tricky!

I can't help but wonder what a future alien, visiting the Solar System long after all trace of mankind has disappeared, would make of a cherry-red Tesla Roadster driven by a spacesuited dummy floating somewhere between Earth and Mars.
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