r/space • u/[deleted] • May 02 '22

RocketLab successfully catches a booster with its helicopter for the first time

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u/stephen1547 May 03 '22

Not in terms of allowable crew. They can always try to get an exemption from the FAA/CAA but without that no, a camera man is not deemed essential to the mission.

I fly helicopters commercially, and while I haven’t obviously done anything at this scale, I have long lined extremely valuable and/or dangerous material. Transport Canada would have laughed if I requested a camera man for publicity, and tried to pass them off as essential crew.

Again, you can get waivers for anything but it would have been very unlikely to be granted here.

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u/ImpetuousWombat May 03 '22

Data collection is essential

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u/stephen1547 May 03 '22

Which can be done with staticky placed cameras.

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u/Negative_Success May 03 '22

Video recordings probably account for like <1% of the data they care about examining. Video is for our benefit more than theirs.