Harebrained Ideas: Musk's Reusable Rocket

Opening a new regular column on my blog called Harebrained.

In this column I will examine various harebrained ideas peddled around (and even bought by some) in the field of transportation or travel.

Today's harebrained idea is Elon Musk's reusable rocket (Tesla next).

Musk's reusable rocket is truly a harebrained idea and here is why.

i) years in development and still not a single successful instance achieved as regards launch AND return to earth AND upright landing, repeat use is never even attempted.

ii) landing parts of rockets is too complicated and expensive even if it ever happens, so far it hasn't happened once, in any case it will negate the cost saving factor of a reusable rocket as opposed to disposable.

iii) the rate of failure in landing rocket stages in such a way so as to make possible their further use as pre-flown rockets will be horrendous, so far the success rate is below zero in about a dozen attempts.

iv) assuming it will be eventually possible to land a rocket stage (booster) sufficiently intact, it will still be impossible to use it in further launches as it will be significantly degraded both mechanically due to impact at original launch and subsequent landing (even if successful) and chemically due to action of extreme temperatures and other environment factors and even the rocket fuel itself. After all, it is re-usability that killed the Nasa Shuttle program after one disintegrated spectacularly on reentry due to degraded heat insulation. If such a re-use is ever attempted in the case of a space rocket it will result in an increased rate of failure and uncertainty of even launching operations, never mind orbital cargo delivery and/or further stage landing.

In a nutshell, the disposable rocket seems a much safer and cheaper concept, rocket stages falling to earth could be collected and utilized for metal.

So today's harebrained was Elon Musk with his reusable rocket idea which will never work*, mark me.

 Elon Musk picture credit: wikipedia.

* It will never work in the sense that, even if Musk ever succeeds completely in landing a rocket stage upright, the rocket part so landed will still be incapable of being reused. And if Musk makes so bold at to attempt to use a pre-flown booster, the rocket will likely fail entirely possibly with disastrous consequences. Good thing is he is not yet thinking about sending humans into space atop his rockets.