Re:Boeing CEO Vows to Beat Musk to Mars
by neuronexmachina on Wednesday October 05, 2016 @11:47AM
(#12644863)
SRBs weren't reusable in any real sense, what was left after splashdown had to be completely disassembled, separately refurbished, and then reassembled. Using the SRBs also made operations much more expensive, since any prep work done after they were mated to the Shuttle was extremely hazardous.
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Re:Boeing CEO Vows to Beat Musk to Mars
by raverbashing on Wednesday October 05, 2016 @02:03PM
(#12646209)
The Shuttle's main engines also had to be disassembled, refurbished and reassembled, rocket engines are complicated
I've read that's in part because they were pushing the edge of the state of the art at the time they were designed, sports cars were used as an analogy.
Of course, it remains to be seen if SpaceX's scheme for engine reuse will pan out.
Re:Boeing CEO Vows to Beat Musk to Mars
by TeMPOraL on Wednesday October 05, 2016 @02:28PM
(#12646453)
Which is another way in which the Shuttle platform wasn't that much reusable. Falcon 9 and future SpaceX rockets are intended to be just refueled and relaunched, without having to disassemble the engines after every landing.