Quote from: sanman on 04/16/2015 10:46 pmHi Dr Sowers,Regarding aerocapture of the parachuting engine by helicopter, will it necessarily be a manned helicopter, or is there a possibility of an unmanned drone helicopter being used to reduce risk?Thanks for your time, sir.Given the mass of the engines, it needs to be a big helicopter. Hadn't though about unmanned. What risk are you trying to mitigate?
Hi Dr Sowers,Regarding aerocapture of the parachuting engine by helicopter, will it necessarily be a manned helicopter, or is there a possibility of an unmanned drone helicopter being used to reduce risk?Thanks for your time, sir.
George,There is a lot of interest in the IVF work; a q/a like this one with answers from Frank Zegler would be great if it can be arranged. Having had the chance to talk to him about it last week, I'm extremely impressed and think that it would be great if up to date information can be shared, to the extent possible. IVF is a game changer, as reusability will be (presuming SpaceX and/or you succeed).
Quote from: georgesowers on 04/19/2015 11:54 pmQuote from: sanman on 04/16/2015 10:46 pmHi Dr Sowers,Regarding aerocapture of the parachuting engine by helicopter, will it necessarily be a manned helicopter, or is there a possibility of an unmanned drone helicopter being used to reduce risk?Thanks for your time, sir.Given the mass of the engines, it needs to be a big helicopter. Hadn't though about unmanned. What risk are you trying to mitigate?Hi Dr Sowers / George, it just seemed that aerocapture of a multi-ton engine pod -- or multiple such engine pods, if you fly multicore -- would be very challenging, and potentially risky to the pilot(s). Have you considered using a ballute as your hypercone, and allowing it to serve as a flotation cushion after splashdown, to keep your engine from getting soggy?