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NASA Scientists Discover Material That Could Protect Jet Engines And Moon Equipment BuckGalaxy May 25, 2026 12:36 pm (Space/Science)

SEASON 5 - FOR ALL MANKIND BuckGalaxy May 24, 2026 11:28 pm (Science Fiction)

Trump's impulsive, ill-advised war has screwed the world BuckGalaxy May 19, 2026 1:46 pm (CurrentEvents)

Blue Origin's Blue Ring Asteroid Prospectors BuckGalaxy May 19, 2026 12:19 pm (Space/Science)

Europe unveils the RLV C5, a partially reusable rocket designed to rival SpaceX Starship BuckGalaxy May 19, 2026 2:06 am (Space/Science)

Dividing up the World RobVG May 15, 2026 12:56 pm (CurrentEvents)

Foundation RobVG May 15, 2026 11:56 am (Science Fiction)

Przybylski’s Star: Still Bizarre After All These Years ER May 15, 2026 8:09 am (Space/Science)

Starship V3 set to make its first launch 6:30pm ET on Monday, May 19 BuckGalaxy May 12, 2026 4:52 pm (Space/Science)

Good idea, for what it's worth... BuckGalaxy May 11, 2026 11:00 pm (CurrentEvents)

Consequences of the Orange Moron's idiotic war BuckGalaxy May 11, 2026 1:36 am (CurrentEvents)

How are you supposed to win a war when you avoid killing people RobVG May 8, 2026 5:47 pm (CurrentEvents)

Reusable Falcon 9 first stage? September 23, 2011 7:00 pm TB

Some interesting stuff in this FAA permit application.

The Grasshopper RLV consists of a Falcon 9 Stage 1 tank, a Merlin-1D engine, four steel landing legs, and a steel support structure. Carbon overwrapped pressure vessels (COPVs), which are filled with either nitrogen or helium, are attached to the support structure. The Merlin-1D engine has a maximum thrust of 122,000 pounds. The overall height of the Grasshopper RLV is 106 feet, and the tank height is 85 feet.

The propellants used in the Grasshopper RLV include a highly refined kerosene fuel, called RP-1, and liquid oxygen (LOX) as the oxidizer. The Grasshopper RLV has a maximum operational propellant load of approximately 6,900 gallons; however, the propellant loads for any one test would often be lower than the maximum propellant load. Even when the maximum propellant load is used, the majority of the propellant would remain unburned and would serve as ballast to keep the thrust-to-weight ratio low.

Back in the day, Phil Bono had designs for recoverable Saturn V upper stages that would land vertically on the ground.

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