why are we still designing rockets with the same shape (cylinder/nose cone)? Do we still not have the technology to send up boxier/flatter objects with thrusters on like the 4 corners, making for more stable landing and re take off?
In: Physics
Boxier things have more wind resistance. More wind resistance means that 1) it takes a lot more fuel to take off, and 2) a lot more heat is generated during re-entry. Both of those things are bad enough that it’s not worth it.
Corners make for turbulent flow. They are by no means more efficient. No matter where you put the thrusters.
Someone else will likely be able to explain this more eloquently but here goes: the weight of the fuel in the rocket is a huge issue because you’re using the thrust of the rocket to fight gravity and air friction. Sure, if you had unlimited fuel the shape wouldn’t matter, but it’s prohibitively expensive from a resource point of view. The current shape of rockets is based on minimizing drag.
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