If you can make it that close to shore, why land on a barge?</pedantic>
From fiction to fact in fifty years. Science rocks.
Quote from: Oersted on 04/21/2017 08:22 pmFrom fiction to fact in fifty years. Science rocks.Would have been less if it weren't for that wing phase where everyone got confused for a while...
Don't diss wings too hard; even SpaceX is moving in the direction of lift (albeit with stubby wings / lifting bodies).The sort of wings needed for a high crossrange and horizontal gliding landing... no, it's hard to justify them. But lift is still a good thing.
Indeed! I've recently wondered if that is how the winged space-plane era will seem like to historians of the future - A dead end development branch that people for some reason kept insisting on.
Quote from: Lars-J on 04/22/2017 07:34 amIndeed! I've recently wondered if that is how the winged space-plane era will seem like to historians of the future - A dead end development branch that people for some reason kept insisting on.I would not be so sure about that. I think once you reenter horizontally with the upper stage (like ITS) there's a small step to runway landing, at least on Earth.
Not unless you remembered to bring along a pair of wings... ITS glide ratio will make all landings look like vertical landings - best to have propulsive brake ready to engage before the lithospheric one does.
Please show the Shuttle a bit more respect... A concept ahead of its time and ahead of the technology of the 1970s, but still a great vehicle with a very good record (Same safety record as Soyuz by the time it was retired). The Space Shuttle made space travel "normal" and I think there is still a place for winged vehicles in the future.