100 in a row
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SpaceX just put up another batch of Starlink satellites. The booster landed on the drone ship about 8 minutes after launch.
This is the 100th successful consecutive landing of a SpaceX booster.
Link to video -
Just wondering...
Looks like the booster begins its reentry burn at about 100km above the planet's surface - clearly there's little atmosphere up there - and it lands with no parachutes, etc. Just a nice, soft, controlled landing.
Why must other, manned, spacecraft rely on parachutes and "splash down" into the ocean (unless you're Russian - then you parachute onto the ground)?
The only thing I can think of is that, in orbit, the relative velocity to the ground is about 18K mph and you need to slow that down to reenter. Is that why?
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I think the reason is weight.
It is expensive to put the fuel needed for a powered descent into orbit.
A parachute is light.
Of course the retrieval at sea isn't necessarily cheap.
Also the SpaceX booster doesn't achieve orbital speed. I'm not sure, but doesn't the booster speed come close to zero when the booster reaches max altitude? Does it just keep going up until gravity stops it? Or maybe just slows it way down?
I guess I could google something, but it is easier to just make it up.
