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The Grasshopper Can Fly Sideways

Posted by timothy on from the that's-how-they-sneak-up-on-you dept.

Phoghat writes "I'm of a 'certain age' and as a child grew up watching shows like "Rocky Jones, Space Ranger and others popular at the dawn of the space age. They always showed rocket ships sitting on their tails and blasting off, and landing, straight up. The shuttle went up that way but had to land like a plane, and anything else was considered impossible or impractical. Now, the Space X's rocket Grasshopper can not only do that, but has demonstrated sideways flight also."

1 of 127 comments (clear)

  1. Impossible my ass! by __aaltlg1547 · · Score: -1, Troll

    I've got video of Niel Armstrong landing a vertical landing and take off rocket on the moon in 1969. Glad to see Space X could catch up.

    There's only one reason why normal rockets don't land tail-down: it's INEFFICIENT when you have an atmosphere to work with. The space shuttle and NASA and Russian landing capsules land using no fuel. Beat that, Space X.