On 18/04/2018 5:19 AM, Greg (Strider) Moore wrote:
https://www.space.com/40313-spacex-r...y-balloon.html

I find this interesting for a couple of reasons.

The approach is interesting and I wonder who much it'll impact the final
payload numbers.

But more so, it seems like both a somewhat low-risk, but also low-reward
approach.

It's low-risk since if it doesn't work, they're already beating folks on
launch costs, so if this fails, they're not out anything. Their business
model doesn't depend on ths.

On the other hand, recovering a single Merlin won't save them that much
money. And if BFR is so close flying, what's the point?

I mean I think it's pretty cool, but ultimately, I wonder who much it'll
be worth the trouble. (assuming they do catch the thing somewhere in the
Pacific, they still have to then get it back to the US mainland.)

Though, it suddenly dawns on me, heck, save the engine, forget the tanks
and you can fly the engine home in a air-freighter and still save the
most costly item.


This may be more about symbolism than economics. If he can recover the
second stage, as well as the cowling, then he'll have a 100% reusable
launcher.

Sylvia.