Barge landings are necessary because not all missions will have enough fuel to return the launchpad.
True, unless the first stage had enough flight surface to make the glide back. Maybe the extendable legs could become fixed fins with perhaps fixed or extendable canards near the top of the first stage body for additional lift and control?
16 posted on 01/17/2016 5:08:50 PM PST by amorphous
