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Why doesn't SpaceX land boosters in Africa?
Why did SpaceX attempt to land the booster on a barge instead of somewhere on land?Could SpaceX start testing to return the Falcon 9 first stage to land instead of water?How does the Falcon 9 know where the landing barge/pad is?Why is spacex trying to land on a barge?How many 1st stage boosters will SpaceX settle for, for its LEO/GTO fleet?Why doesn't this SpaceX rocket test fire use water sprays?Does SpaceX name individual boosters?Would it be beneficial to land Falcon Heavy's side boosters on droneships too?Could SpaceX land on the moon today?Do Falcon 9/Heavy Block 5 boosters need landing legs? Or can they land back on their launch mounts?
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Apart from the obvious answer that it'd take too long to get the booster back across the Atlantic, why doesn't SpaceX leave the main or centre booster in space a little bit longer and guide it to land on dry land rather than on a small pitching barge in the middle of the ocean?
It wouldn't help in cases where there's damage to the booster, but I would have thought that it was an easier target.
Would the booster be traveling too fast to slow down safely?
spacex falcon-9 falcon-heavy
asked 8 hours ago
ChrisFChrisF
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Apart from the obvious answer that it'd take too long to get the booster back across the Atlantic, why doesn't SpaceX leave the main or centre booster in space a little bit longer and guide it to land on dry land rather than on a small pitching barge in the middle of the ocean?
It wouldn't help in cases where there's damage to the booster, but I would have thought that it was an easier target.
Would the booster be traveling too fast to slow down safely?
spacex falcon-9 falcon-heavy
asked 8 hours ago
ChrisFChrisF
1881 silver badge10 bronze badges
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Apart from the obvious answer that it'd take too long to get the booster back across the Atlantic, why doesn't SpaceX leave the main or centre booster in space a little bit longer and guide it to land on dry land rather than on a small pitching barge in the middle of the ocean?
It wouldn't help in cases where there's damage to the booster, but I would have thought that it was an easier target.
Would the booster be traveling too fast to slow down safely?
spacex falcon-9 falcon-heavy
asked 8 hours ago
ChrisFChrisF
1881 silver badge10 bronze badges
$endgroup$
Apart from the obvious answer that it'd take too long to get the booster back across the Atlantic, why doesn't SpaceX leave the main or centre booster in space a little bit longer and guide it to land on dry land rather than on a small pitching barge in the middle of the ocean?
It wouldn't help in cases where there's damage to the booster, but I would have thought that it was an easier target.
Would the booster be traveling too fast to slow down safely?
spacex falcon-9 falcon-heavy
spacex falcon-9 falcon-heavy
asked 8 hours ago
ChrisFChrisF
1881 silver badge10 bronze badges
asked 8 hours ago
ChrisFChrisF
1881 silver badge10 bronze badges
asked 8 hours ago
ChrisFChrisF
1881 silver badge10 bronze badges
asked 8 hours ago
ChrisFChrisF
1881 silver badge10 bronze badges
asked 8 hours ago
ChrisFChrisF
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1881 silver badge10 bronze badges
add a comment |
add a comment |
2 Answers
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The boosters do not have the range to get to Africa because they aren't going fast enough. If you look at the graphic below it shows a Falcon Heavy mission. The side boosters do not get very far downrange at all so they return to the cape. The drone ship for the core booster was located 1236km downrange, Africa is over 6000km downrange.
The graphic came from this site, which has many other profiles.
answered 7 hours ago
GdDGdD
11k3 gold badges33 silver badges49 bronze badges
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We saw with the Falcon Heavy third flight (STP-2 mission) that the center core landing was attempted at 1240KM from launch, which is the farthest recovery attempt to date.
A consequence of the farther distance is that the speed of the core at separation is higher, which requires more fuel to slow down for the re-entry burn.
It appears they did not allocate sufficient fuel in the re-entry burn to slow down enough to survive.
This provides an excellent data point for SpaceX.
Thus to land in Africa means it would likely be moving much faster, and thus require more fuel to slow down to survive contact with the atmosphere.
The trade offs may not work out, compared to a landing closer to the launch site.
answered 7 hours ago
geoffcgeoffc
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2 Answers
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2 Answers
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$begingroup$
The boosters do not have the range to get to Africa because they aren't going fast enough. If you look at the graphic below it shows a Falcon Heavy mission. The side boosters do not get very far downrange at all so they return to the cape. The drone ship for the core booster was located 1236km downrange, Africa is over 6000km downrange.
The graphic came from this site, which has many other profiles.
answered 7 hours ago
GdDGdD
11k3 gold badges33 silver badges49 bronze badges
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
The boosters do not have the range to get to Africa because they aren't going fast enough. If you look at the graphic below it shows a Falcon Heavy mission. The side boosters do not get very far downrange at all so they return to the cape. The drone ship for the core booster was located 1236km downrange, Africa is over 6000km downrange.
The graphic came from this site, which has many other profiles.
answered 7 hours ago
GdDGdD
11k3 gold badges33 silver badges49 bronze badges
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
The boosters do not have the range to get to Africa because they aren't going fast enough. If you look at the graphic below it shows a Falcon Heavy mission. The side boosters do not get very far downrange at all so they return to the cape. The drone ship for the core booster was located 1236km downrange, Africa is over 6000km downrange.
The graphic came from this site, which has many other profiles.
answered 7 hours ago
GdDGdD
11k3 gold badges33 silver badges49 bronze badges
$endgroup$
The boosters do not have the range to get to Africa because they aren't going fast enough. If you look at the graphic below it shows a Falcon Heavy mission. The side boosters do not get very far downrange at all so they return to the cape. The drone ship for the core booster was located 1236km downrange, Africa is over 6000km downrange.
The graphic came from this site, which has many other profiles.
answered 7 hours ago
GdDGdD
11k3 gold badges33 silver badges49 bronze badges
edited 7 hours ago
answered 7 hours ago
GdDGdD
11k3 gold badges33 silver badges49 bronze badges
answered 7 hours ago
GdDGdD
11k3 gold badges33 silver badges49 bronze badges
answered 7 hours ago
GdDGdD
11k3 gold badges33 silver badges49 bronze badges
11k3 gold badges33 silver badges49 bronze badges
add a comment |
add a comment |
$begingroup$
We saw with the Falcon Heavy third flight (STP-2 mission) that the center core landing was attempted at 1240KM from launch, which is the farthest recovery attempt to date.
A consequence of the farther distance is that the speed of the core at separation is higher, which requires more fuel to slow down for the re-entry burn.
It appears they did not allocate sufficient fuel in the re-entry burn to slow down enough to survive.
This provides an excellent data point for SpaceX.
Thus to land in Africa means it would likely be moving much faster, and thus require more fuel to slow down to survive contact with the atmosphere.
The trade offs may not work out, compared to a landing closer to the launch site.
answered 7 hours ago
geoffcgeoffc
57.1k11 gold badges168 silver badges319 bronze badges
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
We saw with the Falcon Heavy third flight (STP-2 mission) that the center core landing was attempted at 1240KM from launch, which is the farthest recovery attempt to date.
A consequence of the farther distance is that the speed of the core at separation is higher, which requires more fuel to slow down for the re-entry burn.
It appears they did not allocate sufficient fuel in the re-entry burn to slow down enough to survive.
This provides an excellent data point for SpaceX.
Thus to land in Africa means it would likely be moving much faster, and thus require more fuel to slow down to survive contact with the atmosphere.
The trade offs may not work out, compared to a landing closer to the launch site.
answered 7 hours ago
geoffcgeoffc
57.1k11 gold badges168 silver badges319 bronze badges
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
We saw with the Falcon Heavy third flight (STP-2 mission) that the center core landing was attempted at 1240KM from launch, which is the farthest recovery attempt to date.
A consequence of the farther distance is that the speed of the core at separation is higher, which requires more fuel to slow down for the re-entry burn.
It appears they did not allocate sufficient fuel in the re-entry burn to slow down enough to survive.
This provides an excellent data point for SpaceX.
Thus to land in Africa means it would likely be moving much faster, and thus require more fuel to slow down to survive contact with the atmosphere.
The trade offs may not work out, compared to a landing closer to the launch site.
answered 7 hours ago
geoffcgeoffc
57.1k11 gold badges168 silver badges319 bronze badges
$endgroup$
We saw with the Falcon Heavy third flight (STP-2 mission) that the center core landing was attempted at 1240KM from launch, which is the farthest recovery attempt to date.
A consequence of the farther distance is that the speed of the core at separation is higher, which requires more fuel to slow down for the re-entry burn.
It appears they did not allocate sufficient fuel in the re-entry burn to slow down enough to survive.
This provides an excellent data point for SpaceX.
Thus to land in Africa means it would likely be moving much faster, and thus require more fuel to slow down to survive contact with the atmosphere.
The trade offs may not work out, compared to a landing closer to the launch site.
answered 7 hours ago
geoffcgeoffc
57.1k11 gold badges168 silver badges319 bronze badges
answered 7 hours ago
geoffcgeoffc
57.1k11 gold badges168 silver badges319 bronze badges
answered 7 hours ago
geoffcgeoffc
57.1k11 gold badges168 silver badges319 bronze badges
answered 7 hours ago
geoffcgeoffc
57.1k11 gold badges168 silver badges319 bronze badges
57.1k11 gold badges168 silver badges319 bronze badges
add a comment |
add a comment |
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