So, would the F9R prototype or the Grasshopper be capable of after short adaptations fly to 100km altitude??
Yes, as long as it was mounted like a typical F9 launch and had a nosecap of some sort attached.Should be a piece of cake, actually. On the way down, they should have enough delta-v left over that they could stay below Mach 1, basically "hovering" all the way down to the ground.
I would think everyone in the "Elon stated that the stage is flying back from the barge to mainland as part of the reuse program" camp would have an opinion on this one. Personally I feel that SpaceX has the tech maturity to accomplish this, but it would come across as a bit pedantic. Instead I'd prefer SpaceX focus on its business plan and not be bothered by such distractions, which I'm sure is exactly what it's doing. Today was a fantastic day in the space industry. We all should pause and marvel at the achievement. My hats off to Blue Origin!At the same time, do you really suppose SpaceX has put all plans and development on pause during the RTF hold? Do you think that they've not continued to make improvements to their systems from avionics to additive manufacturing during this time? Of course they have. It's an exciting time right now, and I for one can't wait what December will bring...
Quote from: Robotbeat on 11/25/2015 01:00 amYes, as long as it was mounted like a typical F9 launch and had a nosecap of some sort attached.Should be a piece of cake, actually. On the way down, they should have enough delta-v left over that they could stay below Mach 1, basically "hovering" all the way down to the ground.yes, but my question is more regarding if it would be possible to do it on the short term, just to show the media "if we wanted to do something as simple as that, we would already have done it". and for the short term, it would be a question of : does the F9R used on those tests (1000m high maximum or there was one that went higher?) is still available? Why didnīt they made any other tests with more altitude? I agree that specifically for SpaceX, there was no use (not their market) , but wasnīt that F9R maybe done JUST for those tests and lacked some components for higher altitudes? could SpaceX just come in 2 weeks and beat Blue Origin if they wanted? Or would they need much more time for such test?
What height did the DC-X ever get to ?
Not yet. They still need to figure out how to land. Its tricky I hear.
Quote from: Robotbeat on 11/25/2015 01:00 amYes, as long as it was mounted like a typical F9 launch and had a nosecap of some sort attached.Should be a piece of cake, actually. On the way down, they should have enough delta-v left over that they could stay below Mach 1, basically "hovering" all the way down to the ground.Isn't the thrust/weight ratio too high for this - this is why we have the hover slam manoeuvre in the first place - you can't continuously fire the engine as the stage would rise up again.Out of interest do we know the descent profile of Blue Origin - how many burns does it make on the way down?Paul
Quote from: spacefairer on 11/25/2015 05:37 amNot yet. They still need to figure out how to land. Its tricky I hear.Landing on land back at your launch point is relatively easy. SpaceX has already demonstrated the ability to do that. Landing on a small barge at sea after launching from hundreds of miles away and pushing a payload into a precise orbit - that is a lot harder.
I donīt know how much media and the general population perception is important to a company like SpaceX, which in the end, doesnīt really deal with the general public.All the while, Blue Origin plans to sell suborbital tourist flights. So marketing is more important to them.But if marketing is important to SpaceX too, I wonder if the F9R they did those 1000m flights could be used for a 100km flight and then land back. In the short term. Send a F9R to do the same thing as the Blue Origin rocket in a short term from now, then prepare a press conference to EDUCATE people on the differences between reaching space and reaching orbit, and how much more difficult is to land a rocket coming from a horizontal speed of 30 thousand kilometers per hour on a barge on the middle of the ocean to land a rocket flying straight up and down.CNN was basically MOCKING SpaceX for BlueOrigin doing it "first" than SpaceX while the F9 crashed. As if they were the same thing.And Musk tweet will fall on deaf and ignorant ears.So, would the F9R prototype or the Grasshopper be capable of after short adaptations fly to 100km altitude??