Why do we still expect “successful failures” on rocket launches and not just scale up or scale down the same design on successful rocket ships and launch pads to make bigger or smaller ships with more stable structural material?

Question

Why do we still expect “successful failures” on rocket launches and not just scale up or scale down the same design on successful rocket ships and launch pads to make bigger or smaller ships with more stable structural material?

In: 1598

Answer 1

>Why do we still expect “successful failures” on rocket launches and not just scale up or scale down the same design on successful rocket ships and launch pads to make bigger or smaller ships with more stable structural material?

Could you elaborate on what you exactly you mean?

You cannot just “scale up” or “scale down” a design. A smaller or bigger version of a thing [always requires a completely different design](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Square%E2%80%93cube_law). It flat-out will not work or will not work the same way if you just… increase or decrease all components’ dimensions by 50%.