Quote:
Originally Posted by FrankJ
Like when you press the "fire" button on your lunar lander & hope it will take off and mate up with your command capsule somewhere in orbit?
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Absolutely! However, I'd never climb into a Lunar Lander if it was based simply on the best calculations, FEA, and CFD without any prototypes or prior iterations.
How many times did we send stuff up into space, to orbit the moon, to even land on the moon, or to return to Earth before Apollo 11? Dozens, at least, and excluding those I'm sure there were many mock-ups, prototypes, and tests completed in advance!
All that said, NASA and FRC are at about opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of cost of failure vs Cost of Development. If you guess wrong on the shaft material of your FRC robot, at worst case you'll be dead in the water for a couple matches and may be ruled out from reaching your potential at an event. If you guess wrong on your manned trip in space, not only do you likely lose human life, but you may also shut down an entire program or limit future funding.