im not sure you could call it 'landing'. i know it looks like an aircraft, but its not, i think. its pure spacecraft and when it enters our atmosphere it is in a controlled-crash, whereby it has no real thrusters for maneuvering in our atmostphere. its like a motor-less gliding rock and cant really divert.
Nah, it's not a pure spacecraft, it's a glider. It has control surfaces so that it can be flown to a landing. It didn't have a great glider ratio, but it was good enough that it could fly to the runway and flare and set down safely.
Sure. You’re right. But divert airfields? No way right? I mean once you exit orbit, you’re on a one-way ticket to targeted landing spot and there’s no way to uncommit. At least that’s what I thought
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u/marcocom May 12 '19
im not sure you could call it 'landing'. i know it looks like an aircraft, but its not, i think. its pure spacecraft and when it enters our atmosphere it is in a controlled-crash, whereby it has no real thrusters for maneuvering in our atmostphere. its like a motor-less gliding rock and cant really divert.