In article ,
Brad Guth wrote:

On Saturday, April 19, 2014 8:34:35 PM UTC-7, wrote:
"Behold the first test of the Falcon 9 Reusable rocket, launching and then

smoothly landing in another location--an entire rocket going up and landing
back

on Earth ready to be refilled and launched again. Unlike the Grasshopper,
this
thing is huge!"


See:

http://sploid.gizmodo.com/awesome-vi...able-rocket-la
unchi-1564763284/+jesusdiaz

That's a terrific demonstration, as proof of accomplishing what other space
agencies (including our NASA) still can not do.

A truly reusable fly-by-rocket is a serious game changer.

Wondering how much extra fuel was consumed.

Propellant usage would also be my top question -- followed by heat
damage to the base of the rocket.

1. If you use such a large mass fraction of propellant backing down to
landing, it loses all utility as a launch vehicle. It is nice to see
that Space-X can maintain enough control to back down to a powered
landing, but the utility question remains.

2. If the base gets so much heat and flame damage that it warps the
structure, the vehicle is only semi-reusable.