SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
from the recycling-is-good-for-the-planet dept.
http://arstechnica.com/science/2017/01/spacex-may-be-about-to-launch-its-final-expendable-rocket/
After successfully returning to flight on January 14, SpaceX will make its next launch from Cape Canaveral no earlier than January 30. With this mission from a new pad at Launch Complex 39A, SpaceX will loft the EchoStar 23 communications satellite to geostationary transfer orbit. This is a heavy satellite, weighing 5.5 metric tons, and getting it out to about 40,000 kilometers from the surface of the Earth will require pretty much all of the lift capacity of SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket. This would leave almost no propellant for the Falcon 9 rocket to fire its engines to slow down, make a controlled descent through the Earth's atmosphere, and attempt a difficult landing on a drone ship.
On Saturday, in response to a question on Twitter, SpaceX founder and chief executive Elon Musk confirmed that the upcoming EchoStar launch will therefore indeed be expendable. "Future flights will go on Falcon Heavy or the upgraded Falcon 9," he added. In other words, in the future such heavy payloads will either be launched on the more powerful Falcon Heavy (consisting of three Falcon 9 cores, designed for return), or a slightly more powerful variant of the Falcon 9 rocket. Although SpaceX may launch one or two more expendable rockets, Musk is saying the plan here onward is to try and launch everything on reusable boosters.
(Score: 2) by frojack on Monday January 23 2017, @07:28PM
ut that it'll corrode a lot faster than steel will in contact with sea water.
Exactly.
Although its not instantaneous, and one dunking won't kill the metal, salt warer is definitely hard on some aviation metals. That being said, there are a lot of aircraft that are exposed to salt water all the time (float planes, anfibs, etc) without significant degradation from exposure. One has to assume the particular formulation of the aluminum is specifically chosen for this.
But the other consideration of water exposure is that is the electronics and wiring need not be water proof just to fly in space. Water would seep into all sorts of wire terminations and components.
Also, water is not the softest landing surface, and splashdown would not be delicate.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Monday January 23 2017, @07:39PM
Also, water is not the softest landing surface, and splashdown would not be delicate.
Even air is not a soft enough landing surface, if you hit it hard enough at a steep enough angle.
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Monday January 23 2017, @08:00PM
Angle is actually the key: Rockets are designed to take some really impressive loads longitudinally.
If you're gonna splash one, and it has the SpaceX fins (even without propellant, or just the tiny bit they have as margin for various launch conditions), you might have a bigger piece left if you try to hit the water along the right axis.
NASA has found old boosters in the water before, so the impact is career-ending, but not necessarily a blown-to-pieces moment.