Posted on 05/28/2016 5:45:55 AM PDT by Vince Ferrer
This is a sped up video taken from a camera attached to the first stage booster on the recent Spacex THAICOM 8.
First-stage landing | Onboard camera
Thank you for this. National news is only showing the lift off ( yawn ) for this story. Looks like they also worked out and eliminated the controlled crash 80s video game landing that most rockets had in these tests.
The engineering involved in pulling this off is amazing. I would like to see the cost benefit analysis of what this costs per pound compared to disposable rockets, purely from an educational standpoint
They have now landed three in a row on the barge, so they have gotten that under control really fast. The next step of course is to reuse the rocket on another launch, which they said will happen later this year. Now that they have a sample of rockets that survived, they can examine them and make design changes if they need to, to make them more reusable. By next year, it may be common to have reused first stages.
Interested in the capture of that thing on the barge. Its way top heavy to just politely set there like that, and with ocean swells making a very unstable platform the military usually sends a squad of expendables out to lash the craft to the deck. Im am guessing their may be some kind of magnetic capturing to hold it in place as well as hi-tech Z-drives powering the barge for precision station keeping and pitch and yaw control of the barge.
Whatever the case, they seem to be doing it right.
Stuff like this, the Mars Landers, medical technology, and some of the advanced weaponry give me hope. There are people in this country able to make new cool stuff. Too bad they are being held back by government hacks and global warming types.
Some information indicated a replaceable contingency crush zone in some of the landing legs was put to the test as attitude? control became somewhat marginal, and a very hot approach to the barge was required.
Same with me. I used to complain about the 21st century being too lame. I am old enough that science fiction promised me a really cool 21st century with flying cars, space stations, and all kinds of cool stuff. I was eager to be alive in the year 2000. Then 2000 happened, and I looked around and thought, "Where's my flying car?'
Well it took a while to get going, but I can now see that the 21st century is here. We have Captain Kirk's communicators, self driving cars, drones, and now reusable spacecraft.
Whatever the case, they seem to be doing it right.
There are two things they use to keep the craft standing after it lands. First, the barge itself is specially designed to adjust to the waves and keep its surface flat and steady. Secondly, there is a ship standing close by the barge, and when it lands, a crew goes to the barge and welds the legs to the ship surface.
Agreed. Remarkable engineering accomplishment.
I'm amazed how (relatively) little fuel it takes to reduce first stage velocity to zero.
I like my big friggen magnet plan better.
Its amazing hot hot that thing comes in. Buck Rogers hovered just a wee bit before touchdown. NOT THESE GUYS !
I see robots doing that in the future. Little roombas coming out of the deck like in the Fifth Element. "Look at all these little things! So busy now! Notice how each one is useful. A lovely ballet ensues, so full of form and color."
Not much margin between “landing” and “crashing.”
Ever watch a carrier landing?
That are being used by the state to control us. Thaicomm is another earth monitor.
Only on film, and only from the carrier's perspective. I'm sure from the aircraft's perspective it is quite different.
I can’t wait until SpaceX brings back one of its Dragon space capsules from space and lands it the same way, on rocket engines instead of parachutes. They plan to do that in the next year or two.
Also, most of the weight of the empty rocket is at the bottom with the 9 rocket engines and landing gear. The top 90% of the length is basically an empty aluminum soda can. Welding the legs just keeps it from sliding around on the deck in the waves. Once it’s landed and still, there is not much chance of it tipping over due to most of the weight being at the bottom.
That is way cool
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