- #1
artis
- 1,481
- 976
Since they started this I have been somewhat amazed by the ability to not only launch but also peacefully get back a rocket intact and landing on it's vertical axis.
I'll admit I haven't read a ton of material with regards to this so pardon if this has been asked already.
To me it seems that the main "trick" in order to make such a landing possible is to place the center of mass/gravity within the rocket at a specific place (closer to the bottom) so that when the separation happens the rocket falls back to Earth and always tends to go "bottom first" , as this happens one only then needs to make a reliable restartable engine and some other means of position control , but I assume the main point is that the rocket always stays in a stable vertical position even as it falls?
Because if it started to rotate in all directions (apart from around it's own vertical axis) I think it would be impossible to regain control of it?Is my thinking close or am I off?
I'll admit I haven't read a ton of material with regards to this so pardon if this has been asked already.
To me it seems that the main "trick" in order to make such a landing possible is to place the center of mass/gravity within the rocket at a specific place (closer to the bottom) so that when the separation happens the rocket falls back to Earth and always tends to go "bottom first" , as this happens one only then needs to make a reliable restartable engine and some other means of position control , but I assume the main point is that the rocket always stays in a stable vertical position even as it falls?
Because if it started to rotate in all directions (apart from around it's own vertical axis) I think it would be impossible to regain control of it?Is my thinking close or am I off?