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SpaceX Loses the Center Core of its Falcon Heavy Rocket due to Choppy Seas

posted by Fnord666 on Tuesday April 16 2019, @07:55AM   Printer-friendly
from the caution-deck-is-slippery dept.

martyb writes:

SpaceX had a successful launch, orbit insertion, and recovery of all 3 rocket boosters last Thursday. Unfortunately, they were unable to fasten down the central core on the ASDS (Autonomous spaceport drone ship) "Of Course I Still Love You:

Shifting seas and high winds brought it down.

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SpaceX Loses the Center Core of its Falcon Heavy Rocket due to Choppy Seas | Log In/Create an Account | Top | 38 comments | Search Discussion
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  • (Score: 2) by ElizabethGreene on Wednesday April 17 2019, @02:29PM (3 children)

    by ElizabethGreene (6748) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday April 17 2019, @02:29PM (#831036) Journal

    This is a completely reasonable approach, and matches what we're going to do out at (the useless) LOP-G anyway. I don't have a good answer for why we can't assemble and fly from LEO.

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  • (Score: 2) by bob_super on Wednesday April 17 2019, @04:24PM (2 children)

    by bob_super (1357) on Wednesday April 17 2019, @04:24PM (#831122)

    > I don't have a good answer for why we can't assemble and fly from LEO.

    As Ars's Statistical puts it, it's because the Senate has been mandating the SLS pork barrel, so the whole architecture is designed to keep SLS absolutely necessary.
    Technically, there are quite a few absurd choices in there (the gateway makes things much harder, the capsule can't go to LLO...), which only make sense because no other rocket than SLS Block2 could do it.

    • (Score: 2) by DannyB on Wednesday April 17 2019, @04:38PM (1 child)

      by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday April 17 2019, @04:38PM (#831134) Journal

      If the Senate keeps mandating SLS pork they may find that a private manned lunar mission might beat SLS to ever getting off the ground.

      --
      The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.

      • (Score: 2) by bob_super on Wednesday April 17 2019, @05:26PM

        by bob_super (1357) on Wednesday April 17 2019, @05:26PM (#831165)

        One can only hope.
        The question is more whether the Private US company will get there before the Chinese.