Splash down....

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Wreckless Rat
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Splash down....

Post by Wreckless Rat »

I still find it strangely odd that space travel has gone back to “splash downs” and that NASA have no viable way of getting people into space themselves.
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Re: Splash down....

Post by Nobby »

Yeah , Fireball XL5 could land proper like , and that was the Sixties.
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Re: Splash down....

Post by Mr. Dazzle »

Wreckless Rat wrote: Mon Aug 03, 2020 7:53 am I still find it strangely odd that space travel has gone back to “splash downs” and that NASA have no viable way of getting people into space themselves.
Water is nice and soft, so it makes the landing nice and simple. SpaceX will use vertical landing (like they do with the current Falcon boosters) on their next spacecraft.

As for NASA: They intentionally stepped back from LEO manned launches and invited the private sector to develop them instead as a way of saving money. NASA are developing their own manned systems for travel to infinity/the moon and beyond. It makes sense from a cost point of view.
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Re: Splash down....

Post by ZRX61 »

All this technology & the footage from the recovery ship was apparently filmed with a potato..
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Re: Splash down....

Post by Yambo »

ZRX61 wrote: Mon Aug 03, 2020 3:53 pm All this technology & the footage from the recovery ship was apparently filmed with a potato..
I watched the splashdown but didn't hang around for the recovery lift. I suspect the ship was a couple of miles off, using a big zoom and with the heat coming off the water it caused a fair bit of disruption to the view. As you magnify an object with lenses you magnify the error as well.
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Re: Splash down....

Post by Bigjawa »

Wreckless Rat wrote: Mon Aug 03, 2020 7:53 am I still find it strangely odd that space travel has gone back to “splash downs” and that NASA have no viable way of getting people into space themselves.
Space X are just a space bus service, the real sexy stuff is the SLS that NASA developed themselves.
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Re: Splash down....

Post by Mr. Dazzle »

Bigjawa wrote: Mon Aug 03, 2020 7:49 pm Space X are just a space bus service, the real sexy stuff is the SLS that NASA developed themselves.
Although even that is under question now...

Falcon 9 has slashed the cost of launch massively. The next gen vehicle they're developing at the moment (starship) will be be able to launch much heavier loads and will be fully reusable. At the moment only the first stage of Falcon 9 is reusable.

That brings into question the need for and validity of SLS. Lots of people, including those inside NASA, are asking why they need a big huge launch system when SpaceX can launch for a fraction of the cost. You can 'just' launch multiple commercial flights.

Its not even like you're losing skills from the US to do it, SpaceX operate out of California.