I suspect that this will only be a viable procedure until the inevitable accident that causes a helicopter crash, then it will be deemed too risky for regular use (unless the helicopter can be unmanned)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPNK7bc2qvM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YmFHAFYwmY
Let's fly a massive chainsaw beside a powerline. That'll be safe:
I'll just use a CHAINSAW on a HELICOPTER!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqnXj4oc3WY
(Look at around 12:30 for the most extreme)
I saw this kind of stuff multiple times when I lived in a high-rise. It's surreal to go out on your balcony, look down, and see a flying helicopter.
When you go into space numbers unfortunately tend to have to take a back seat to optics.
Someone crashes a log truck and nobody cares. Someone crashes a helicopter doing "space stuff" and suddenly every jerk who feels slighted that you didn't divert enough resources from your primary task (space!) to pander to their issue (your team isn't divers enough, your facility isn't environmentally friendly enough, your company vehicles aren't all EVs, etc, etc) along the way is happy to tell the news reporter or the Youtube head how you "have a history of playing fast and loose" or whatever. And then all the vultures who want to be seen "doing something" descend...
(Those loggers though in the second video seem like they're standing awfully close.)
There's a concept in flying stuff that you always want to be "three mistakes high" (I think this is credited to Gene Gottschalk although I have no idea if he was the true origin - it's taken a life of its own in many communities). By that logic, the Christmas tree pilot is at a very sub-optimal altitude - 0.75+ mistakes high, but still high enough that they're unlikely to make it out in the event of a mistake or catastrophic failure.
The retrieval helicopter is presumably several mistakes higher and more likely to recover from simple mistakes or equipment failure, but runs the risk of being smacked by a flying object.
Neither are safe, but I think there are mitigating factors to the rocket collection that aren't present in the Christmas tree video. I think they're closer to even risk-wise. If I were a helicopter pilot, I'm not sure I would want either job!
I would expect the chance of a serious accident to be very low.
Also keep in mind these sort of mid air captures were well practiced by the US during the Cold War to capture returning photographic film from spy satellites. Although that was with airplanes not helicopters. A variation of it is actually shown at the end of James Bond Thunderball where he and the girl are rescued from a life raft via a balloon and capturing plane.
An airplane would probably cope much better. And even then, the fact that the military do something is not a good reason to expect it to be viable for civilian use. Military applications tend to accept much more risks.
LOL. Yeah sure, so the plan is to have something traveling at 800kph somehow intercept a falling rocket stage, catching it in a web or whatever and start dragging it along and somehow land safely afterwards?
Thanks man, you made my day :D
Still, I expect an empty second stage rocket to weight little enough that one can get by with a smaller plane, that can fly slowly due to its little weight, instead of sheer engineering feat.
But common sense is quite uncommon nowadays.
> But common sense is quite uncommon nowadays.
I see on your page you say "I take pride on behaving righteously and honestly". Don't forget also:
Be kind. Don't be snarky. Have curious conversation; don't cross-examine. Please don't fulminate. Please don't sneer, including at the rest of the community. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
The Wikipedia article even has pictures for you https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mid-air_retrieval
(Also NZ is full of helicopter pilots who work doing "deer recovery", snatching animals with shotgun-nets, hanging them under helos and pulling them off of near vertical mountain ridges - grabbing something under a chute is likely easy in comparison)
I guess the hook they use for catching it must be hanging from a somewhat line that deforms on impact, becoming longer while absorbing lots of energy. You don’t want this behaving like a heavy bungee jumper under your helicopter.