Or you do something revolutionary. Use concrete, that has been proven adequate in the Grasshopper tests and is really, really chaeap.
Absolutely. This landing pad thing keeps going round in circles.
Everything about how SpaceX is pursuing reusability suggests a philosophy of "try the simplest thing possible and only add complexity if the simplest idea doesn't work". I would only expect them to try something more complex than a concrete pad if they were having serious problems with the concrete...which so don't seem to have any clear evidence for.
The landing pad seems like a total non-issue. I'm surprised it's being discussed at all.
Oh yeah, I agree they's never try anything beyond legs an concrete for the initial flights. A cradle only makes sense if you want really quick (<24 hour) turnaround. That's not going to happen for many years, but still fun to think about. Which is the point of discussion threads.
Anyone know when the next grasshopper test is/ What they will do for it?
It would be cool if the interstage could double as a petal-out air brake/stabilizer structure, although I don't know that it would be feasible.
Any hope of testing to destruction much more frequent and aggressive testing now that a replacement is on the horizon?
That patent is probably not enforceable. Deployable airfoils & drag devices have been described many times before, including the TGV MICHELLE.
Quote from: docmordrid on 05/28/2013 12:16 amThat patent is probably not enforceable. Deployable airfoils & drag devices have been described many times before, including the TGV MICHELLE.There are a lot of ways to implement the concept. If the Bezos patent is narrow enough, it could probably stand. If he's trying to patent the entire approach, then he's probably puffing hot air.
Just saw an interview with Elon. He stated the first stage is 3/4 of the cost of the stack.
Quote from: krytek on 06/01/2013 06:17 pmJust saw an interview with Elon. He stated the first stage is 3/4 of the cost of the stack. Which interview? Can you provide a link please?