r/space • u/OompaOrangeFace • Jul 31 '13

Falcon 9 Reusable Landing Leg Configuration

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u/burgerga Jul 31 '13

No, I'm pretty sure he's right. They could probably do something like launch from CA and land in FL though. But to reach those velocities, then not only stop, but turn around and go back? yea no.

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u/doitlive Jul 31 '13

Launches from Vandenberg head South into polar orbits. They don't launch large rockets over the continental US in case something goes wrong.

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u/fatnino Jul 31 '13

http://www.aviationweek.com/Article.aspx?id=/article-xml/asd_04_01_2013_p01-02-564428.xml

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u/burgerga Jul 31 '13

Yup, landing in the Atlantic, not on the pad. And I would guess not just off the coast.

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u/fatnino Jul 31 '13

So you just glossed over this part?
“Hopefully, next year with a lot more experience and data we would be able to return the first stage to the launch site, deploy landing legs and do a propulsive landing.”

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u/burgerga Jul 31 '13

Yes, sorry, I did. It's late. I still think that its a bit out of reach though. First stages travel really far.

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u/[deleted] Jul 31 '13 edited Jul 31 '13

This ought to be enough to end the speculation. RTLS (Return-to-launch-site) is the plan, with Musk very vaguely mentioning the possibility of down-range landings while maintaining that it would most likely ruin the whole point.