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GW Johnson wrote a paper on what it will take to return from Mars and attempt to slow down in the atmosphere.
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/9y7wx2hf … 2x930&dl=0
The title is "A Look at Interplanetary Returns vs Cislunar Returns"
(th)
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I appears that SpaceX is in the process of recovering the intact starship and is towing it to Australia. Musk released a statement yesterday to that effect.
Yea! When I saw it float. I thought that should be done. Engineers will get a much better read by getting their hands on it
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For anyone considering a winged entry vehicle. I recommend a lifting body like Dream Chaser. Lighter weight than a fuselage and delta wing. Glide distance isn't as great, but enough. Shuttle was supposed to be a lifting body. But military wanted to launch spy satellites from Shuttle into polar orbit. NASA had made arrangements to land Shuttle at airports around the world, so it could reenter the atmosphere at any point and land safely. That worked for inclined orbits, but there were no airports at the poles able to land Shuttle. So they needed to extend glide distance far enough to reach one. Just don't launch your large reusable spacecraft into polar orbit.
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The issue is the launch of everything in the same vehicle with cargo tonnage pushing the 1 time launching into a monster and then when you need to protect for that vehicle carrying crew it now goes into that one problem of getting rid of heat no matter where its going.
Winglets, fins and rear of the vehicle are not true glider to lift but are just for short steering or to correct rotation axis so that the body is aligned for the atmospheric braking on the bodies greater heat shielding surface.
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