100
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Why doesn't the Falcon-9 first stage use three legs to land?
I can't speak for why SpaceX made the decision. However, while three legs won't wobble, four legs are less likely to tip over. SpaceX has demonstrated tipping over is a major problem.
Dr. Peterson of ...
- 7,996
93
votes
How does the SpaceX Falcon 9 first-stage straighten for landing?
Ironically, the answer is in his own (or rather SpaceX's) video.
Still from 0:49 of the video showing cold gas thruster firing
The first stage of the Falcon 9 uses a set of nitrogen cold gas ...
- 7,139
90
votes
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Difference between BlueOrigin and SpaceX rocket landings?
You see that tiny thing on the far left?
That's the Falcon 1. It's a comparable size to Blue Origin's New Shepard spacecraft and SpaceX's Grasshopper (which accomplished a similar feat 6 times, around ...
- 1,234
67
votes
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Why doesn't SpaceX land boosters in Africa?
The boosters do not have the range to get to Africa because they aren't going fast enough. If you look at the graphic below it shows a Falcon Heavy mission. The side boosters do not get very far ...
- 19.9k
59
votes
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How does the Falcon 9 first stage avoid burning up on re-entry?
The heat of re-entry is highly dependent on speed. The second stage of the rocket is responsible for providing most of the speed needed for orbit, after the first stage lifts it out of dense ...
- 167k
59
votes
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Why can't Falcon 9 fairings touch the water?
The fairings are not boats. While they appear to float (at least for some time), there will also be water on the inside of the fairing. That results in some issues. Inside the fairing, there are ...
- 1,334
57
votes
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Why is Falcon 9's fairing so big?
One of the keys to SpaceX's cost advantage is standardization on common parts. One example is the Merlin engine, which is used on both the first and second stages of the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy (...
- 1,234
55
votes
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Falcon 9 design: Why is the cargo fairing so much wider than the lower parts?
The diameter of the stages is the largest size that can be transported by road without extensive "outsize load" issues (permits, having to move traffic lights and signs out of the way etc.). This ...
- 125k
50
votes
Accepted
Is a SpaceX launch completely automated?
The rocket is autonomous, it flies itself.
The navigational math, engine, and flight dynamics of a Earth-based orbital class rocket in operation are far too complex for manual operation, especially ...
- 6,427
50
votes
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Why was there only a single Falcon 9 landing on ground-pad in 2021?
Whenever possible, SpaceX prefers Return To Launch Site (RTLS) landings over Autonomous Spaceport Droneship (ASDS) landings, since they get the booster back immediately instead of having to wait for a ...
- 18k
49
votes
Difference between BlueOrigin and SpaceX rocket landings?
Here is an image of the two trajectories. (From Reddit)
Here is a nice infographic explaining the differences between the two.
Kudos for both images above to Jon Ross of ZLSA Design.
And here is ...
- 79.3k
49
votes
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Why does the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket do a 180 flip for reentry?
Hobbes has already showed you a diagram of the Falcon 9 launch profile, so I won't repeat that.
Note: This answer is not intended to be a complete, scientific treatment of the subject. I knowingly ...
- 7,322
48
votes
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Why would NOAA restrict the ability of SpaceX to live stream the second stage?
Because beaming down images of the earth from space is restricted, and Companies and Universities require a Commercial Remote Sensing Licence (weirdly these are issued by NOAA) to do so. SpaceX has ...
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48
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Falcon 9: engines stabilize spin
The other answers are great demonstrations of F9's capabilities, but I'll be the contrarian here and say they're all wrong and perhaps Elon oversimplified things for a tweet.
This was a one engine ...
- 6,427
45
votes
Why does the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket do a 180 flip for reentry?
Trajectory of the Falcon 9 first stage:
Graphic courtesy ZLSA Design (zlsa.github.io)
As you can see, before the boostback burn, the stage flips so the engines point in the direction of travel. When ...
- 125k
45
votes
What holds SpaceX’s rocket in place in this launch?
The Falcon 9 (and Falcon Heavy) use launch clamps at the base of the vehicle to hold it steady pre-launch. In fact, the gantry and umbilicals don't actually provide much support even before they ...
- 9,976
45
votes
Falcon 9 launch process - perception of launch speed
Aside from thrust/weight ratio, I suspect at least part of this conditioning came from a peculiarity with the Space Shuttle and its launch process.
The Space Shuttle's launch process was different ...
- 1,639
42
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How are the SpaceX Falcon 9 Mod 3 and Mod 4 grid fins different?
Ok, I asked so I could use these awesome photos in an answer... I confess.
The material has changed from Aluminium with an ablative paint to bare titanium. The specific shape, size, and mount points ...
- 79.3k
41
votes
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Why are Falcon 9 main engines throttled down and up shortly after launch?
Why would one throttle down at a crucial time during steep ascent, way before MECO? Is it to weaken the effect of max Q?
Yes, exactly that. The engines are throttled up to the highest extent possible ...
- 8,881
40
votes
Why can't Falcon 9 fairings touch the water?
In addition to the water damage is the impact damage: the fairings wouldn't "touch" the water they'd hit the water, even with parachute retardation. A net slows deceleration down and spreads it more ...
- 19.9k
40
votes
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What is the primary reason for SpaceX motion to have astronauts board Dragon before fueling up the rocket?
The Merlin-1D engines are now tuned to use the super cooled fuel and oxidizer. Thus you would be running the engines in an out of normal state, if not using it the same as all other launches with ...
- 79.3k
39
votes
Accepted
Why was AMOS-6 mounted on the rocket for a test fire?
The static test wants to be done relatively close to launch day, to minimize the likelihood of anything happening to the engines between the test and the launch.
The more conservative procedure is ...
- 167k
39
votes
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Why won't SpaceX launch a rocket for a month?
The Eastern Range run by the Air Force has a 2 or 3 week maintenance window. Thus no one is launching from either Cape Canaveral (Where LC-39A is located), nor the CCAFS (Cape Caneveral Air Force ...
- 79.3k
39
votes
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Why did SpaceX retire Falcon 1?
The Falcon 1 was less profitable to maintain, and it didn't have the customer base to support using it. A Falcon 1 launch cost around $10 million, of which about 10% was profit. They also considered a ...
- 121k
39
votes
Is a SpaceX launch completely automated?
Elon Musk made reference to the "Holy Mouse Click" that happens right before they start loading fuel. From that point forward, the rocket will launch itself at the planned time, about 2 hours in the ...
- 121k
37
votes
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Do Falcon 9s get a thorough wash or a fresh coat of paint (they look clean pre-reflight)?
It's easy to see by just looking at photos and videos of launches of re-used boosters that they don't. There are only a very few very small white lines, probably where engineers inspected some weld ...
- 18k
35
votes
How does the Falcon 9 first stage avoid burning up on re-entry?
Here's an image of the bottom of the stage before launch.
As you can see, the entire bottom is covered in white panels. I suspect those panels are a heat shield.
This SpaceX press release on the ...
- 125k
35
votes
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How can a 9-engine Falcon rocket be cheaper than single engine rockets?
No, on the contrary. The larger the engines get, the more expensive they get. Just look at the massive amount of full-scale tests they needed to get the F-1 engines of the Saturn V main stage running ...
- 8,414
34
votes
Difference between BlueOrigin and SpaceX rocket landings?
Blue Origin's flight was straight-up, straight-down, with a fairly small rocket that can't carry much useful payload. It's a great demonstration of technology, but it's only practical for space ...
- 167k
34
votes
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What work needs to be done before reusing Falcon 9?
At the moment no one knows, since no one has done quite this task before.
SpaceX is learning alot with each recovered core. In this image of three of the recovered cores in the LC-39A HIF building ...
- 79.3k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible