> the black box valve controllers are going to break off, under any kind of
g
> load

I ran that past John.
He said

>> The valve motors do tend to break when we crash, but it doesn't cause
leaks.

Hopefully (!), by the time they get to serious manned flight, crashing will
be an extremely unlikely event. In the earlier days, when every aspect was a
major learning experience, there were some quite interesting crashes. But
none were anywhere as "good" as the disasters of the early US space program.
Such events are an essentially mandatory part of any rocket development
program. I've seen a video of a 100+ foot long US rocket flying sideways at
ground level - gives a whole new (or old) meaning to the HPR term
"landshark". And I have a picture of a Trident missile about to complete its
second full powered loop at sea level. Presumably it didn't have an armed
warhead at the time :-)


        RM

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