I sent HH an email out of the blue a few years ago with my thoughts on why the space shuttle was not a good design, and he was kind enough to write a nice reply. So I've always thought well of him.
Would it be ok to ask you your thoughts about the space shuttle? Is that weird? I really apologize if so.
He agreed, and said he'd argued similarly.
Musk had an even better idea. Bring the ordinary booster rocket back without wings, rudder, or landing gear by using a bit of extra fuel at the last moment to kiss the landing pad rather than smash it. That empty tin balloon of a booster isn't going to fall that fast or need that much fuel to do it.
I don't like Elon, his methods, or his companies, but I am grateful for the progress his engineers have wrought!
Also have you seen the launches in person? Here we have some that look like glowing floating balls of plasma. When SpaceX was first doing tests everyone was outside thinking it was aliens or a bomb, it was that far outside anything people had ever seen before.