Re: They should have gone with the James bond scoop design
Trouble is... material cost is bugger all
We made some frame parts for <cough cough splutter splutter>, the raw material (aerospace grade alluminium) cost us about $100 each.
The cost in machining/plating/remachining /replating it to space specifications was about $1000 each, followed by the inspections/reports/certificates etc etc which added another $500.
Then off to the customer to be assembled/baked/shaked/frozen/ and vibrated to death before being lobbed in the ocean because the rocket failed on lift off (yes we had to do it all again).
When NASA/SpaceX says the cost of a space craft is 500 million, you'll find the actual materials used will be way less than a million and the cost is all in building the damned thing... so its pretty much scrap value only...
PS I suspect someone at ESA has been playing kerbal space program again, because theres a module in ther called 'the claw' used for grabbing other space ships...
Biting the hand that feeds IT
