Quote from: Doesitfloat on 05/09/2016 01:26 pmThe ASDS does what is supposed to and is probably an economic solution. However since wind and sea state have never affected a landing yet a new ship is required. Lets get one that has an 6 degree of freedom landing pad. Travels at 20 knots and can hold a gps location to 1 meter accuracy. Well there's this one:Okay -- who cut the prow off a perfectly good ship? I wonder where the back end of that thing is..?
The ASDS does what is supposed to and is probably an economic solution. However since wind and sea state have never affected a landing yet a new ship is required. Lets get one that has an 6 degree of freedom landing pad. Travels at 20 knots and can hold a gps location to 1 meter accuracy. Well there's this one:
How about just adding a beacon with position, wind, speed and wave data? This would enable rocket landing while ASDS sails full speed downwind. Thus landing could happen with larger waves and stronger winds.
Two questions that need answers... my opinion... Can you trust the rocket engines to light on time every time... Would YOU stay on a ship with a F9 S1 incoming at terminal velocity... At this point in the development cycle... my answers are no and NO...
Quote from: dkovacic on 05/09/2016 05:07 pmHow about just adding a beacon with position, wind, speed and wave data? This would enable rocket landing while ASDS sails full speed downwind. Thus landing could happen with larger waves and stronger winds.As I understand it, the ASDS needs to hold position pretty tightly because the Falcon is stuck inside a plasma sheath during re-entry and cannot receive updates on its target.
Come on, let's think SPACEX BIG!!ASDS v2.0 Prototype Concept Art
Quote from: John Alan on 05/09/2016 02:06 pmTwo questions that need answers... my opinion... Can you trust the rocket engines to light on time every time... Would YOU stay on a ship with a F9 S1 incoming at terminal velocity... At this point in the development cycle... my answers are no and NO... Doesn't the F9 S1 aim to miss the LZ or ASDS until relight is confirmed? I believe that was the implication of a diagram I saw somewhere.
Quote from: starhawk92 on 05/09/2016 07:53 pmCome on, let's think SPACEX BIG!!ASDS v2.0 Prototype Concept ArtThat image shows better than most why we'll never have a helicarrier like this: if you miss all the arresting wires landing on that upper angled deck you'll get sucked into the intake of the port-site forward lift fan.
Given the sometimes snarky tone of this thread and in deference to he Chinese activities of "nation building or at least island building AND Elon's comments in the past.... I vote for building a volcano lair complete with appropriately sized landing pads.
Quote from: CraigLieb on 05/10/2016 04:05 amGiven the sometimes snarky tone of this thread and in deference to he Chinese activities of "nation building or at least island building AND Elon's comments in the past.... I vote for building a volcano lair complete with appropriately sized landing pads.Launch out of or land into the cone?
Okay.. well, how about four airships holding the corners of a big steel net?!?Kinda like a giant-sized baseball glove.
It amuses me greatly that SpaceX has more cruise missile/ICBM capabilities than the entire North Korean military. SpaceX could drop a Falcon 9 first stage literally anywhere in the world with enough remaining fuel to seriously mess up somebody's day.What would be more unpleasant: flipping the S1 around and firing prograde into the target, or just letting it drop at terminal velocity?Not to mention the fact that the F9 could likely carry almost any nuke in the US arsenal on a suborbital trajectory to anywhere in the world.
Quote from: sevenperforce on 05/09/2016 02:24 pmIt amuses me greatly that SpaceX has more cruise missile/ICBM capabilities than the entire North Korean military. SpaceX could drop a Falcon 9 first stage literally anywhere in the world with enough remaining fuel to seriously mess up somebody's day.What would be more unpleasant: flipping the S1 around and firing prograde into the target, or just letting it drop at terminal velocity?Not to mention the fact that the F9 could likely carry almost any nuke in the US arsenal on a suborbital trajectory to anywhere in the world.Hence the life-and-death importance of ITAR restrictions, and why we should be thankful that SpaceX and others in the industry are tight-lipped on certain matters. We don't want to accidentally give any North Korean engineers the last piece of the puzzle they need to keep their Taepo Dong 2's and Unha 3's from blowing up.
Quote from: CameronD on 05/10/2016 12:28 amOkay.. well, how about four airships holding the corners of a big steel net?!?Kinda like a giant-sized baseball glove.If it lands at terminal velocity in a steel net, inertia will extrude the aluminum tanks right through the cables. Nice if you want finely chopped Falcon bits, not so nice if you want a reusable rocket.On the other hand, doing a terminal landing burn to reduce velocity points a Merlin-sized plasma torch right at the cables, and you get a Falcon-sized hole in the net - but still no reusable rocket.