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Old 17th Jan 2015, 04:03
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MG23
 
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Originally Posted by henry_crun
There is mention here of a cold gas attitude control system:
I believe it's cold gas thrusters outside the atmosphere, fins in the atmosphere with the engine off, and engine gimballing when the engine is running.

Landing video is up, didn't see anyone else post it yet:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3nMsUvakPM

Apparently the fins got stuck at a steep angle when the hydraulic fluid ran out, and the engine gimbal couldn't compensate for it and still decelerate enough to land softly.

Unfortunately, from the video, it looks like there won't be many pieces left that are large enough to determine whether it really will be reusable when they land it in one piece. Hopefully next time it will work.

Wasn't this also the first time they did a boostback manoeuvre where it turns around and heads back toward Florida? I think the previous attempts just fell into the sea wherever it was heading.

Edit: here you go, this is how it's supposed to work:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfMuvsC9k2U

Last edited by MG23; 17th Jan 2015 at 04:14.
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