
Musk: Falcon lands on droneship, tips over post landing [video] - bdon
https://www.instagram.com/p/BAqirNbwEc0/
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Camillo
I like how the entire thing explodes when it hits the deck. Finally, a machine
that lives up to its movie/videogame version in terms of explodingness.

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fabulist
I'm imagining they detonated it so it wouldn't do something unexpected and
potentially even more dangerous, but I came to this thread to ask because I
wasn't sure.

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dermotbrennan
Can someone explain to me why they can't just put a huge net around/under the
rocket so that even if it does tip over, it can be safely caught and
recovered?

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martiuk
Rockets are heavy.

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seanccox
Watching this as a maritime archaeology student, I was reminded of ancient
seafarers, who built massive sailing platforms to support siege engines that
frequently capsized in rough weather.

Does anyone have insight into the thinking (and/or mathematics) that motivated
this approach to landing a rocket?

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trothamel
When the rocket stages, it has significant horizontal motion (which is what
matters - after the rocket is high enough to get out of the atmosphere, it has
to speed up horizontally to achieve a stable orbit). Returning to the launch
site requires cancelling that velocity out (and applying more horizontal
velocity to return), while stationing the ASDS downrange means you mostly
don't.

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pol0nium
That, plus the fact that landing far from inhabited regions is safer.

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seanccox
I guess my question wasn't as clear as I thought it was. I understand landing
it vertically, and I also understand the safety value of landing the rocket on
a floating platform.

What I don't understand is: Why it isn't obvious that a rocket of X height
will fall over when landing on a boat of Y size in Z waves? Can you explain
that element?

In general terms, tall things on boats that aren't fastened down are the most
likely things to tip over. That's something any sailor can tell you. I'm
interested in what considerations were at play leading up to this accident. I
don't know anything about rocketry, so I kinda need that explained to me in
simple terms.

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abeld
Someone mentioned before (in a comment on another similar news item) that
although the rocket is tall, after landing most of its mass is at the bottom:
the engines are heavy, while the rest of the rocket is mostly empty fuel
tanks. Hence it is feasible to keep it upright with the relatively small legs.

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seanccox
OK, that clears that up for me. Cheers!

