Hm, this isn't intuitive to me. How could a rocket that was designed to withstand the pressures and conditions of space not be able to take some salt water? And what about just adding a layer of coating that would protect it?
Consider a Coke can.
When it's closed and pressurized you have a very hard time crushing it. The internal pressure is converted to a force of tension that resists deformation. Once it's been opened, you can crush it with one hand from the side. But it's much stronger along the axis of the cylinder, since the force is directed through all the material rather than deforming it inwards.
A rocket if scaled down to the size of a coke can has walls much thinner than a coke can, and is much longer relative to its width. You can create great torques by hitting t...
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