Tovarich
Banned
The British worked out that the maximum jet thrust you can point towards the ground, be it metal, tar or dirt, is around 21,000 pounds. This has to do with both the temperature of the jet efflux and the force against the surface. Beyond that and you start melting or eroding the surface....
So how do those launch-pads Nasa employ for space-launches get re-used?
They must be capable of taking a lot more than 21000lb of thrust.
Or is it simply that whatever they're made of would be prohibitively expensive?