Hacker News

Favorites Setup
Comment by WalterBright | original | SpaceX catches the Starship to end Flight 15
[−]WalterBright · 2026-11-15 Sun 09:27 UTC · link
Gliding into the ocean pretty much means you're dead.

There aren't many flat stretches of land.

[−]nine_k · 2026-11-15 Sun 12:05 UTC · link
There are plenty of flat stretches all over the world: in Arizona, Kansas, West Siberia, Mongolia, all over Sahara, Egypt, Sudan, north of Argentina, etc, etc. There's no need for more than several dozen km. If a out-of-fuel Starship can still maneuver with its rudders, it can likely slow down enough for a rough landing.

As of the ocean, given low waves and the airspeed of say 200 km/h, most likely the craft will withstand it if it has withstood the reentry. At least one Starship demonstrated some limited seaworthiness.

[−]bumby · 2026-11-15 Sun 15:46 UTC · link
Sure there are. The Shuttle even landed at White Sands NM due to weather. There are contingencies for exactly that sort of thing.
[−]WalterBright · 2026-11-15 Sun 19:12 UTC · link
Watch the videos of airliners veering off the runway onto flat ground which wrecks the airplane. The landing gear is designed for flat hard runways, not soft bumpy ground.