Re: Meh
Having looked at the video it looks like a big issue is having the thing standing on its end being supported by the main engines at the bottom
Camilla Smyth,
True. But it can be done. See linky here to Grasshopper
I'm not sure how your launch escape system example helps though. They don't land on the rocket power (that's used to get them to sufficient altitude to deploy parachutes), and they're designed that way because there's a bloody great rocket under the capsule, so the launch escape system has to be bolted onto the top. As I understand it you get different control issues when you attempt to have the centre of mass below the rockets - although with modern computer autopilots I suspect it's perfectly possible to correct for either. But rockets going up, and grasshoppers managing to land again, both suggest that SpaceX aren't doing anything inherently silly. They just have to get it to work. And I'd guess it's a lower priority, as they're not paying for special launches just for testing, but only doing it with left over rockets on other missions, which were going to be destroyed anyway.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
