Could a Falcon 9 with single seat cabin and no 2nd stage...

[darthgently]

Could a Falcon 9 with single seat cabin (say 500 lbs with occupant) and no 2nd stage take off from KSC and land at Boca Chica?

Just brainstorming ways that critical SpaceX personnel could commute between the sites, lol

Imagine being a Boca Chica welder with a certain set of skills.  Near the end of your shift Musk approaches and says, "are you up for more overtime and a road trip?  Well not a road trip per se, anyway, how is your heart?  Any fibrillation issues?  KSC needs your certain set of skills ASAP.  Pee before you go"

 

[tater]

RSS and the F9 mod are calling!

[kspbutitscursed]

what is this LMAO

[farmerben]

sounds doable

 

[magnemoe]

2 hours ago, farmerben said:

sounds doable

 

I agree, say it would even work with an dragon capsule on top of first stage as its much lighter than second stage. 

[monophonic]

Probably technically doable.

Also, given the required set-up times for rocket launches, it is probably much quicker to just charter a bizjet to Brownsville and take company car from there.

Also, given the flight path goes right over Orlando International, impossible to get FAA permit for a rocket hop.

[kerbiloid]

Sitting in Teslas.

The F9 first stage jettisons the Teslas, and, without landing, turns back to Boca-Chica.

The Teslas are chuting down, landing in desert, and ride to the object.

Edited September 12, 2023 by kerbiloid

[darthgently]

8 hours ago, kerbiloid said:

Sitting in Teslas.

The F9 first stage jettisons the Teslas, and, without landing, turns back to Boca-Chica.

The Teslas are chuting down, landing in desert, and ride to the object.

Plan C: 

1. F9 + stripped basic Crew Dragon (renamed Crew Secret Squirrel) with no 2nd stage, booster RTLS after releasing Squirrel into ballistic path toward target, Squirrel uses super dracos to correct and land at target. 

2. Sell to Pentagon as small team specops point to point insertion solution.

3. Go back in time to 1979 [@spacescifi pls insert solution here] and do Iran hostage rescue properly with 3 or 4 Squirrels simultaneously landing and teams securing the perimeter prior to rescue copters coming in.

The shock and awe of multiple capsules making powered landings in proximity would be pretty cool, especially in '79

[cubinator]

Falcon 9 takes 40 minutes from start of fueling to launch. Is that faster than taking an average business jet across the gulf? They are even coming out with supersonic ones...

[steve9728]

50 minutes ago, darthgently said:

Plan C: 

1. F9 + stripped basic Crew Dragon (renamed Crew Secret Squirrel) with no 2nd stage, booster RTLS after releasing Squirrel into ballistic path toward target, Squirrel uses super dracos to correct and land at target. 

2. Sell to Pentagon as small team specops point to point insertion solution.

3. Go back in time to 1979 [@spacescifi pls insert solution here] and do Iran hostage rescue properly with 3 or 4 Squirrels simultaneously landing and teams securing the perimeter prior to rescue copters coming in.

The shock and awe of multiple capsules making powered landings in proximity would be pretty cool, especially in '79

I think you need His Angels with the drop pods

[Gargamel]

Pretty sure keeping an Emirates 380/747 on standby would be cheaper, easier, and waaaay more comfortable.       But yeah it seems doable.    

[darthgently]

56 minutes ago, cubinator said:

Falcon 9 takes 40 minutes from start of fueling to launch. Is that faster than taking an average business jet across the gulf? They are even coming out with supersonic ones...

Make that a business jet that can land on a tiny level surface and I'm with you on this.  If Dragon can land as accurately as F9 then it could come in supersonic and land on a heli pad or a small concrete parking lot extremely quickly.  The LZ surface may suffer, obviously.  Anyway, just a whimsical thought experiment 

[CBase]

Boca Chica to KSC is 1666km according to google maps. So less than 2h with some businessjet. There are several comercial flights < 6h and of course some dead time until flight leaves, however I doubt a standby businessjet is cheaper than 10h extra wait time. For critical timeframes it is probably cheapest just to get personal on standby to Boca Chica.

[darthgently]

2 hours ago, CBase said:

Boca Chica to KSC is 1666km according to google maps. So less than 2h with some businessjet. There are several comercial flights < 6h and of course some dead time until flight leaves, however I doubt a standby businessjet is cheaper than 10h extra wait time. For critical timeframes it is probably cheapest just to get personal on standby to Boca Chica.

All true.  Undeniably.  It makes one wonder if the OP was meant to be whimsical, humorous, and Kerbalish.

Best, most fitting response:

23 hours ago, tater said:

RSS and the F9 mod are calling!

 

[Gargamel]

19 hours ago, darthgently said:

Make that a business jet that can land on a tiny level surface and I'm with you on this.  If Dragon can land as accurately as F9 then it could come in supersonic and land on a heli pad or a small concrete parking lot extremely quickly.  The LZ surface may suffer, obviously.  Anyway, just a whimsical thought experiment 

And then double the flight time as the passenger has to take a moment to collect themselves and pull themselves together,  literally.     

[Hannu2]

I hope FAA officer who handle application of licensing external seat has enough KSP experience to understand that it is very natural and practical way to pilot space ships.