Rocket Lab, a small satellite launch specialist, recently announced its plans of attempting to catch one of its rockets as it goes back to Earth through the use of a helicopter.
An IFL Science! Science! specified it should be known in the next fortnight if the idea is as plausible as it sounds or if the company has come up with a possible new way of recycling launch vehicles.
The approaches that first took humans to space and the moon were not sustainable. Other than the amounts of fuel expended, dropping vast lumps of metals used for the launch of spacecraft on the first part of the journey in the ocean could not carry on.
Essentially, this challenge has inspired various methods to recapture rockets, with the ultimately successful process of SpaceX of its first stage on barges and launchpads, the only one proven thus far suited for recycling.
Initial Process Similar to Other Space Launches
This initial process will be akin to the other space launches. Specifically, Rocket Lab will put around 34 tiny satellites known as CubeSats for various clients on a dual-stage Electron rocket.
The first stage will split two-and-a-half minutes following the launch and then begin falling back, reaching a speed of an approximated 8,300 km/h under gravity's influence.
At roughly 13 kilometers, the first booster is set to deploy a parachute that brings its speed down to an approximated 36 km/h.
It might be believed this was adequate for a landing with nothing more than a few dents and bumps, although people have an odd aversion to a metal object that weighs as much as three elephants that approach them at the speed of an Olympic sprinter.
A Helicopter Waiting to Catch the Rocket
As a result of the process, Rocket Lab will have a helicopter waiting. The latter-mentioned will attempt to get a hook on the parachute, stopping the rocket completely without it, it is anticipated, tearing the parachute.
In a statement, as reported on Business Wire, Peter Beck, Rocket Lab CEO, said attempting to catch a rocket as it falls back to this planet "is no easy feat" and that they are threading the needle in that circumstance.
The company executive added the test came out of nowhere, though. He continued explaining that they have conducted numerous successful helicopter captures with replica stages, performed extensive parachute tests, and successfully recovered the first stage of Electron from the ocean during Rocket Lab's 16th, 20th, and 22nd missions.
For one struggling to imagine how a helicopter could carry the first-stage rocket, once the latter is caught, it might help to know if the Electron of Rocket Lab is less than SpaceX's Falcon 9's, a third the height, and 40th the weight.
The 'There and Back Again' Mission
At 13 tonnes at launch, which is lighter after it uses its propellant, the helicopter should be well within the carrying capacity of the Sikorsky-92 that will carry out the operation, as specified in a related Space.com report.
Rocket Lab will try to catch a falling booster with a helicopter during a mission this month https://t.co/ZM5Y4qUakL pic.twitter.com/rtxMeeOZVw
— SPACE.com (@SPACEdotcom) April 5, 2022
The said launch will take place from the launch site of Rocket Lab on the Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand, with the attempted recapture taking place well offshore.
The launch window is opening on April 22. Although the current headquarter is in the United States, Rocket Lab emphasized its New Zealand origins with a Tolkien reference, titling this the "There and Back Again" mission.
A related report about Rocket Lab catching a rocket with a helicopter is shown on Everyday Astronaut's YouTube video below:
Check out more news and information on Rocket Lab in Science Times.
