Makes me think of one of the Russian proposals several years ago for
replacing the Soyuz spacecraft. Return to Earth was to have concluded
with a soft landing under solid-rocket power, with opposing pairs of
motors being gimballed for control of the magnitude of the thrust
vector. The stated reason for using solids was to allow a one-year
mission in orbit, though I'd have thought it easier to develop a liquid
propulsion system qualified for a year plus. Maybe another reason would
be to avoid having to deal with toxic hypergols at the landing site. Or
maybe there is a political imperative at Roskosmos to use solids on the
way down, just as there is at NASA on the way up!
On 5/10/19 12:03 PM, David McMillan wrote:
Anyone familiar with BPS Space? This video series he's been doing on
trying to achieve SpaceX-style VTVL (on hobby-rocket motors!) is
extremely interesting. Basically starting from "No idea how to do
this" and try-failing towards success, sticking with hardware he can
*afford* to do this with. He's no Armadillo or Masten, but what he's
been able to achieve so far is still impressive.
https://youtu.be/yx5zLykjKy8