SpaceX Grasshopper Launch Filmed From Drone Helicopter

garymortimer writes "SpaceX's Grasshopper flew 325 m (1066 feet) – higher than Manhattan's Chrysler Building – before smoothly landing back on the pad. For the first time in this test, Grasshopper made use of its full navigation sensor suite with the F9-R closed loop control flight algorithms to accomplish a precision landing. Most rockets are equipped with sensors to determine position, but these sensors are generally not accurate enough to accomplish the type of precision landing necessary with Grasshopper."

Re: a few VTOVL predecessors

[kellymcdonald78]

Spacecraft 2 (Virgin Galatic's production craft) is not an orbital vehicle (not even close). The problem with wings is that except for the last few min of flight, they are dead weight that needs to be carried all the way to orbit and back. The result is a very inefficient vehicle (the Shuttle stack for example was capable of launching about the same payload as the Saturn V, the problem is, most of that payload was taken up by the shuttle itself. When you're dealing with payload margins of a few percent, the difference between using an engine you already need and some lightweight landing legs vs much heavier wings is substantial.

Elon does it again

[wjcofkc]

Elon Musk, with his money, and business genius, in combination with overall nerdiness, is bent on dragging us kicking and screaming into the long overdue sci-fi future we have all been been impatiently waiting for and desperately dreaming of. The rapid progress his technology companies are achieving is nothing short of breathtaking. He pushes limits so far, and so hard, that those nearly impossible limits have been powerless to push back. I for one have no problem with this. I believe Elon Musk will take his place among the most important and well recognized figures in history. We should all feel very lucky to have him.

Re:Reusable lauching craft

[bill_mcgonigle]

My biggest concern here is that the complexity may be the downfall. Historically, the cost of the increase in complexity of reusable rocket designs outpaced the value of returning the hardware.

But then they tried the Shuttle to reduce costs below that of rockets (hey, it looked good on papers with politically dictated calculations). Consider the complexity of *that* solution, especially the make-work landings at Edwards!

SpaceX has no motivation other than to deliver rocketry services to its internal and external customers at the most cost-effective price. It would be extraordinary if they hadn't considered the lifecycle costs.

Re:Space takes time...

[Jarik C-Bol]

"If anyone tells you not to re-invent the wheel, ignore them. The first wheel probably fell apart after about 50 feet. Now wheels last for thousands of miles, at incredible are made from space age materials, and are only related to the original wheel in that they are mostly round. Re-invent the wheel all you want." - Some AC years ago.