On Sat, 2003-12-06 at 12:23, Jonathan A Goff wrote:
> I actually think they have a good chance for several reasons. First
> off, recovering it should
> be relatively straigh-forward. The Shuttle SRBs have shown that you can
> parachute recover
> stages in the ocean.
NASA does the SRB recovery in maximally expensive way, when all you
really need is a ocean going tug and a barge with a small crane, and
perhaps a couple of ocean skiffs to secure lines to the floating stage.
> The Merlin engine is a pintle engine, possibly
> even a FSO-pintle (though
> I'm not postive). If it is FSO, or if they design it right, and fish
> it out quick enough, they should
> be able to avoid most of the potential damage from the sea-water.
For an electrically inert object, like a used stage, sea water
corrosion of space craft materials is relatively slow. Immersion times
of less than a month should have little to no effect, assuming you wash
all the salt off when you fish it out. If a boat made out of mild steel
can survive fifty or more years of continous salt water immersion with
regular maintenance, a stainless steel, titanium, aluminum, and
composite rocket stage should be able to withstand an occasional
dunking.
The things that live in sea water are a more serious problem, if they
get into sensitive parts or small passages. A face shut off pintle
injector should completely eliminate that problem.
-p
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