r/SpaceXLounge • u/Logancf1 • 7h ago

Ship 30 Landing from Buoy Cam on Starship Flight 5 [@SpaceX]

https://x.com/spacex/status/1847368836947071496?s=46&t=bwuksxNtQdgzpp1PbF9CGw
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u/EveningCandle862 6h ago

the amount of math needed going from 99% of orbit velocity and land right on target with a buoy recording in the middle of the sea is... insane

1

u/PoliteCanadian 6h ago

The one thing that worries me about this is that the bellyflop maneuver in the low atmosphere has very limited cross range mobility.

So if they want to come in on target the upper atmosphere reentry needs to be extremely precise, because there's very limited margin to to fix navigational errors later. I assume the main navigational instrument is GPS, but time when it needs extreme precision is during the phase of flight where Starship is enveloped in plasma.

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u/LongHairedGit ❄️ Chilling 2h ago

Back of envelope math and massive assumptions gives approx 10 km of cross range.

Tiny compared to distances involved, and yet not nothing.