Reusability is really, really hard. (Score: 2, Insightful) by danieldvorkin@pipedot.org on 2014-02-21 21:06 (#49) Making a reusable crew transport vehicle like the Dreamcatcher (or, for that matter, what the Shuttle was originally supposed to be) is "easy" enough, for certain values of that word. Making a heavy-lift system that's fully reusable ... isn't. Full reusability is a great long-term goal, but maybe that's something for the next generation? Re: Reusability is really, really hard. (Score: 2, Informative) by foobarbazbot@pipedot.org on 2014-02-22 05:42 (#4F) At this point, they're going for landing the 1st stage, with an eye to eventually reusing it. Full reusability (i.e. including the 2nd stage), probably is waiting till the next generation.Of course it's all a bit experimental at this point -- nobody's ever soft-landed their heavy-lift liquid-fuel boosters (though the SSMEs are close, in a way), so what sort of damage they receive and what economical refurbishing practices will look like is not really known... depending on how many (and which) components turn out to be cheaper to replace every flight than to overbuild and maintain for repeated uses, "full" reuse may never happen. Re: Reusability is really, really hard. (Score: 1) by danieldvorkin@pipedot.org on 2014-02-22 15:36 (#4P) >Full reusability (i.e. including the 2nd stage), probably is waiting till the next generation.Ah, I guess I missed that part. Well, that makes sense, I guess.
Re: Reusability is really, really hard. (Score: 2, Informative) by foobarbazbot@pipedot.org on 2014-02-22 05:42 (#4F) At this point, they're going for landing the 1st stage, with an eye to eventually reusing it. Full reusability (i.e. including the 2nd stage), probably is waiting till the next generation.Of course it's all a bit experimental at this point -- nobody's ever soft-landed their heavy-lift liquid-fuel boosters (though the SSMEs are close, in a way), so what sort of damage they receive and what economical refurbishing practices will look like is not really known... depending on how many (and which) components turn out to be cheaper to replace every flight than to overbuild and maintain for repeated uses, "full" reuse may never happen. Re: Reusability is really, really hard. (Score: 1) by danieldvorkin@pipedot.org on 2014-02-22 15:36 (#4P) >Full reusability (i.e. including the 2nd stage), probably is waiting till the next generation.Ah, I guess I missed that part. Well, that makes sense, I guess.
Re: Reusability is really, really hard. (Score: 1) by danieldvorkin@pipedot.org on 2014-02-22 15:36 (#4P) >Full reusability (i.e. including the 2nd stage), probably is waiting till the next generation.Ah, I guess I missed that part. Well, that makes sense, I guess.