If it's anything like the reference diagrams in the patent, it's forming a relatively standard explosive weld. The problem with EFJs etc is that you're not going to keep the jet attached to the landing leg
I watched it live and as a life long boater my first thought was to look at the sea for any swells as it may tip over. Then hearing them say it's a drone ship I thought they must have crew boats nearby to go and strap it down.
Didn't think of that method and that's why I am not an engineer!
It has a much narrower footprint with respect to is height than Falcon, but the majority of its weight is similarly in the engines and thrust frame, and therefore very low. Should be decently stable in a lot of ocean conditions.
Didn't think of that method and that's why I am not an engineer
Actually I'd push back on that! Engineers don't simply have great ideas immediately on how to solve a problem The real superpower of engineering is knowing how to identify and break down problems into solvable chunks and applying the engineering method to systematically solve those problems. And I'd argue that just identifying the issue at hand and a possible solution at all indicates you would be plenty capable of being an engineer!
And a big part of engineering is not hitching your wagon to the solution you love best. It’s selecting the solution that satisfies the criteria best, within the budget allowed. Sometime the results of engineering doesn’t look pretty, because that’s not a high value criteria.
Engineers get a bad rap when things “fail early” or “who designed this stupid thing”. That happens sometimes, but mostly thats the exact specification, package, or budget they were told that had work with.
Fun comparison: Falcon 9's legs have a wider footprint and they use a squat, heavy robot called the 'Octograbber' to come out and grab the bottom of the rocket as soon as it touches down. This secures it well enough until crews can tack it down properly.
I was really surprised no one on the stream I was watching commented on it (NASASpaceflight). I immediately did some googling and found the patents mentioned here. If nothing else it looked cool!
I am not so sure about this being a great idea. It requires some pretty expensive resurfacing of the ship every time they land? Or they just have to grind it flush at least.
They have a patent for it
https://patents.google.com/patent/US20240124165A1/en
So my first thought was that this was a screw up and the landing thrust cooked the deck or something. What a whacky yet elegant solution!
Did you mean tacky?
Yeah they were so close to sticking the landing
It’s super awesome that there’s another private space company making reusable rockets. Just wish they weren’t all owned by assholes.
It seems like you don't get to have the "fuck you" kind of money required for such projects by being nice.
[deleted]
They have mouths of their own and oh boy do they like to speak
Can confirm. They're assholes
I believe it's more of a "harpoon" than a "weld", but it definitely makes an explosion when it fires off.
If it's anything like the reference diagrams in the patent, it's forming a relatively standard explosive weld. The problem with EFJs etc is that you're not going to keep the jet attached to the landing leg
AFAIK they have a separate patent for explosively driven bolts, which is what was used here.
https://patentsgazette.uspto.gov/week43/OG/html/1539-4/US12454373-20251028.html
They have patents for both, and afaik we don't know which one was actually used here.
“know”, true, we don’t. But looking at the video, It looks much more like the driven pin version and less like the puck version of the patent.
I watched it live and as a life long boater my first thought was to look at the sea for any swells as it may tip over. Then hearing them say it's a drone ship I thought they must have crew boats nearby to go and strap it down. Didn't think of that method and that's why I am not an engineer!
It has a much narrower footprint with respect to is height than Falcon, but the majority of its weight is similarly in the engines and thrust frame, and therefore very low. Should be decently stable in a lot of ocean conditions.
Ocean conditions, yeah no problems. Wind conditions, this thing scares me
Put a keel on the barge and bingo: sail barge
Actually I'd push back on that! Engineers don't simply have great ideas immediately on how to solve a problem The real superpower of engineering is knowing how to identify and break down problems into solvable chunks and applying the engineering method to systematically solve those problems. And I'd argue that just identifying the issue at hand and a possible solution at all indicates you would be plenty capable of being an engineer!
And a big part of engineering is not hitching your wagon to the solution you love best. It’s selecting the solution that satisfies the criteria best, within the budget allowed. Sometime the results of engineering doesn’t look pretty, because that’s not a high value criteria.
And selecting said criteria is what sets the real engineers apart from the rest.
Engineers get a bad rap when things “fail early” or “who designed this stupid thing”. That happens sometimes, but mostly thats the exact specification, package, or budget they were told that had work with.
Fun comparison: Falcon 9's legs have a wider footprint and they use a squat, heavy robot called the 'Octograbber' to come out and grab the bottom of the rocket as soon as it touches down. This secures it well enough until crews can tack it down properly.
Guys right now: Sips beer, kicks $100 million dollar rocket leg... "Yeah, that'll hold."
Stud-propelling mechanisms for securing a launch vehicle to a landing platform, and associated systems and methods: https://patents.google.com/patent/US20240092508A1/en
I thought that's what was happening! I was like woah explosive bolts what are those for then it kept burning and it clicked. Very clever!
very cunning!
I was really surprised no one on the stream I was watching commented on it (NASASpaceflight). I immediately did some googling and found the patents mentioned here. If nothing else it looked cool!
How are they supposed to use it again if it’s welded to the recovery ship?
Grinder
DAMMMMMMMMMMMM!
I am not so sure about this being a great idea. It requires some pretty expensive resurfacing of the ship every time they land? Or they just have to grind it flush at least.
Cheaper than letting it fall off the deck I guarantee you
Are you asking if the cost of angle grind a deck for 6 hours is more expensive than rebuilding the first stage of a freaking rocket?
No, but other companies can land boosters reliably without having to weld them to the deck.
Great Scott Manley video about the launch and landing, and discussion of the deck attachment: https://youtu.be/XAYYWjvXgaM
Auto tie down tech
That's going to be "fun" to get the rocket off the deck...
Welds are welds, but a rogue wave will bend anything.
Rip Ocean Ranger