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Re:SpaceX Has Pinpointed the Problem That Caused the Falcon9... by darkmighty on Thursday January 15, 2015 @08:58PM (#8896843)
Right, I believe the grid fins are the primary roll control method (the other being friction and secondarily tilting the ship and making a precession around center of mass). If this force was lost while the control loop was expecting it to work things can go bad I guess.
Re:SpaceX Has Pinpointed the Problem That Caused the Falcon9... by rst on Thursday January 15, 2015 @11:31PM (#8897269)
Also attitude control. The stage isn't going to be much of a glider no matter what you do with it, but at terminal velocity, it has nontrivial lift and drag, and changing those will change the trajectory.