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Skylon

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5 hours ago, zolotiyeruki said:

What we'all are saying is that SpaceX have a history of taking ideas that sound a bit on the far side of crazy to doubters like you, and then making them happen, while you consistently post doubts that appear to be founded on nothing but intuition.

The shoulder analogy fails on even a superficial level.  It'll be a hinge, not a ball and socket joint.  It'll be made from steel or titanium, not bone and cartilage.  Super heavy can hover, or nearly hover, when empty, while the human body does not have that ability.  The catching tower will have shock absorption, if not outright active suspension, while the steel beams in your analogy do not.

Yes except its an two way join, fold out and rotate.  Folded out is locked and probably rest on an pretty robust stopper, rotate they let go pretty free just with some dampening so the entire grind find take the impact. Yes they probably need to reinforce the joint and the structure behind, however superheavy can already be lifted from top and it make sense these lugs are close to the fins. 

My problem with this is the accuracy needed and the destruction an fail can cause, My guess is that they make an F style catcher on the side of the tower for less chance hitting the launch pad or tower, how to add suspension to this I have no idea more so as they want to move the assembly put superheavy right back on launch pad. 
However they probably use an separate crane for this who simplify stuff a lot. 

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5 hours ago, cubinator said:

Starship isn't built like a human, though. Maybe it's more like a Dug, whose arms are stronger than their legs.

I think it's reasonable that the booster could be built to hang from the griffins, considering they already carry a similar stress while falling and there is a bulkhead nearby for the second stage attachment point. What makes me skeptical is the fact that the machine needed to grab the booster is basically a robot as big as a skyscraper, which sounds very difficult to pull off and ripe with unforseen issues.

Does the arm has to move much? Superheavy can move pretty well and will have the hot gas thrusters for this, I don't see trying to counter with an arm will help much. 
Now having some suspension on the arm would be nice and this has to be an downward motion not tilting as in flexing the arm. 
 Yes you could put hot gas thrusters on the arm, problem is that its hard to move heavy stuff fast. 

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31 minutes ago, magnemoe said:

Does the arm has to move much? Superheavy can move pretty well and will have the hot gas thrusters for this, I don't see trying to counter with an arm will help much. 
Now having some suspension on the arm would be nice and this has to be an downward motion not tilting as in flexing the arm. 
 Yes you could put hot gas thrusters on the arm, problem is that its hard to move heavy stuff fast. 

Hard?  Actually, no.  It just takes beefier equipment.  Really big hydraulic rams, with really big pumps behind them.  I'm reminded of a job I had several years ago, where a large work barge (probably 100x250ft) was next to a big oil platform.  The barge's thrusters kept it quite precisely aligned with the mostly-stationary oil platform, despite the motion of the waves.

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