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A comment on SpaceX's Grasshopper Successfully Flew 325 Metres. Parent comment

Re:SpaceX's Grasshopper Successfully Flew 325 Metres by shabble on Saturday July 06, 2013 @05:53PM (#6000205)
I'd have thought[1] (post reentry) initial parachutes/streamers, either released or retracted, with a retro-engine landing.

Could be that the weight savings in fuel aren't enough for that choice, or that there are other good reasons not to (added complexity, potential non-reusable components)

[1] Although, aeronautics is famously non-intuitive, so ymmv.

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Re:SpaceX's Grasshopper Successfully Flew 325 Metres by rbanffy on Saturday July 06, 2013 @08:21PM (#6000543)
I believe they considered parachutes and came to the conclusion that, since they are keeping the rocket engines, extra fuel and oxidizer are a better use for the mass. Parachutes large enough for slowing down the first stage along with the pyros needed to deploy them are heavy.
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