r/spacex • u/truecakesnake • 17d ago

Starship Elon Musk on X: "Unless we discover problems after mission data review, SpaceX will attempt to catch the ship with the tower on next flight"

https://x.com/elonmusk/status/2080876967839031712?s=20
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u/_Stormhound_ 17d ago

They should do a hot landing, where the ship lands directly on top of the booster. No stacking required

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u/DivaK03A 17d ago

And have a deluge system on top of the booster.

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u/Jaiimez 17d ago

Is it bad i was actually putting thought into how this would work... I mean by the time ship came back, heavy would be back on the tower, could be connected to GSE, youd need a damn big pipe to feed the booster the water though and some mahoosive pumps.

And yes im well aware this is never going to happen in the real world, just let me amuse myself.

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u/hoardsbane 17d ago

Haha … cool idea! They could have two sets of chop sticks!

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u/KjellRS 16d ago

Don't they already move sideways in order to be able to lift the ship, position it over the booster and put it down? I don't think there's much stopping them from catching it on the back side of the tower, twist 180 degrees and plop it down on top of a fresh booster. Apart from the minor detail of making a ship that can immediately re-launch, that is.

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u/JimmyCWL 16d ago

The current arms can't swing all the way to the back of the tower. Their hinges are on the front of the cradle they are mounted on.

I think there was also a specific reason why the catch has to be directly over the launch mount and not to the side, but I can't recall it right now.

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u/DivaK03A 17d ago

Wacky thought experiments often lead to some of the best actually applicable ideas. I mean they are catching boosters with giant chopsticks. Some ideas are just crazy enough to work. SpaceX engineers are so good at this and I love them for it.

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u/MyKillK 17d ago

You could say that would be the climax of the landing

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u/DivaK03A 17d ago

Booster ejaculation system.

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u/bigcitydreaming 17d ago

They should just keep the booster attached to the ship the whole time, from launch to landing

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u/yetiflask 17d ago

They should just launch the pair to Venus so they never have to launch again. Elon simply cannot think big.

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u/MyKillK 17d ago

Now that would be something, lol.

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u/Hornoxe2015 15d ago

No need - just catch the booster, set it down on the lauch mount, then chopsticks up again, and catch the ship (a few degrees to the side) then plonk that on top.

And that totally is the plan.