Great read! Keep up the good work. The only constructive criticism I have is that it would be nice if it was made clear earlier in the article that the B/D models are two-seaters, typically used for training.

Left-handed drill bits are a much, much better option than extractors.

Proofread, Jason. Proofread.

You are the hero Jalopnik needs, not the one they deserve...

He has a GoPro on the fender! Orlove, FIND US THAT VIDEO, YOU LAZY PUNK!

Fun fact: A modified passenger-carrying belly pod was proposed at one point

The proposed concepts specified heat exchangers in place of the combustion chambers in a typical jet engine. Reactor heats working fluid (probably sodium, for efficiency and temperature reasons), working fluid goes to the “jet engines” and heats the air, lather, rinse, repeat.

I’m the Emperor of Ice Cream and have been for more than three centuries, and you’re still a huge idiot.

You have humbled me with your logic. I had never considered this!

Well, you can’t control what some other person does. But you can do the right thing yourself in a bad situation and not make it far, far worse.

Yes, those are the vapors OUTSIDE the tank and exposed to ambient air, which will burn fitfully and probably go out by themselves in a moment. The flame won’t make its way INTO the tank, past the evap flap and all the rest, even if there was a burnable fuel/air mixture in there anyway.

NO!

Wow. You’re a huge idiot. Please don’t drive anymore, since you obviously have no concept of self-preservation or respect for other people’s well-being.

It’s a flawed metaphor - those people on that track aren’t learning anything. You could even argue that they are reinforcing bad habits, in an environment that’s needlessly dangerous.

One: Dude doesn’t understand that YouTube caps the view counter at 301+ the first day, until they can verify the hits are organic and not coming from a bot - might be hundreds of thousands by now but the counter won’t update until tomorrow.

I hate the way street racing has been so thoroughly conflated with drag racing. Historically, organized drag racing was created as a way to cut down on street racing - giving people a safer, legal place to race.

“YES! I get to break something!”

Let’s circle back around to the beginning, shall we? The point of this is to develop a launch system that can soft-land someplace close to where it will be refurbished and launched again, to bring down the cost. I totally get that.

Of course not. But “Exploded into a million pieces and scattered over the ocean floor” makes analyzing the physical evidence as to what went wrong a lot harder than pulling a largely intact rocket out of the water.

Explosions ruin them more.