SpaceX is nuts, and they’re on a roll.
They just stuck the landing with the 233-foot Super Heavy booster nestling into the waiting chopstick arms of the launch gantry. The purpose of catching it like this is for a rapid turnaround for reuse, a simplified landing mechanism (on the booster itself), increasing the safety of the landing, and lower recovery costs.
Who thinks of catching a rocket with chopsticks?
What they’re doing right now sits squarely at the intersection of art and engineering. The art of innovation and creativity juxtaposed against the practical implementation through engineering. It’s harder than it may seem, because its not just additive or iterative engineering. It’s taking a look at the current limitations, bottlenecks, and cost points and reimagining solutions.
The artist says, “What if we did it this way?”
The engineer says, “That’s dumb.”
The artist says, “Yeah, but it’s really cool and interesting.”
The engineer says, “Yeah, but it’s not gonna work.”
This continues. They argue. Probably vehemently at some point. They defend their positions. They iterate. They work on it.
And then they stick the landing.
P.S. Boeing just announced they’re laying off 10% of their workforce.
