Posted on 12/28/2017 6:12:09 AM PST by Kaslin
And shouldn't try even if we could. If there was a need for that much lift right now, we could do better. Materials and manufacturing methods have improved greatly since the 1960s. Computers have also improved a little ...
And shouldn’t try even if we could.
Every time some politician says let’s go there or over here, there are decades spent trying to develop the tech to lift really big payloads, meanwhile some other politician comes along and cancels the whole development cycle - so it never happens - it always looks like it might, but never will. Not until there is a lasting political will to go beyond LEO. What ever DJT might do or initiate has no guarantee of lasting beyond his 4-8 years. Same goes for Musky’s babies - no political will means his projects are dead and all efforts are nil.
Space programs cannot achieve what they could as long as they are tied to political whims and fates. The only other possibility is for manned space exploration to become a national priority, a political GOAL, not a policy.
Changing the rules because the congressional districts home to the entrenched aerospace industries are crying foul. They aren’t willing to compete on the playing field, unless the field is tilted to their advantage by changing the rules.
Falcon Heavy is on the pad for pre-test inspection, prior to a hot firing of the engines.
There has also been not one LAUNCH of the SLS after 15 yeats of development.
Needs more Mooselimb outreach, yippie cat-yea! ...
While the concept sounds good in theory, so have all the other broken assurances Musk has made in the past few years.The author can't name one that Musk has made regarding SpaceX, other than delays in getting them accomplished, oh no! Call the waaaahhhmbulance!
I read a year or two ago that the Russians are developing a new type of rocket tech which would equal or superseed the BFRMy ass they are. They're also going to *finally* send humans to the Moon, and make the first manned missions to Mars. As Sam Kinison once said, you want to impress us? Bring back our FLAG! :^)
Civ, it was all over the web at the time. Whether it continued to be pushed I have no idea. I’ll look around see if I can ;locate some old story about it.
Russias A5V moon mission rocket may be replaced with new super-heavy-lift vehicle
Russia first to test clean pulse-detonation rocket engine (VIDEO)
Anyway do not discount Russian expertise with rocket engines. I'm sure there was a story about a new engine based on a different way to generate much more thrust due to a novel engine design; at the time the aim was to get to something like 170 tons to LEO with more possible using addons to the lift vehicle.
In addition to launching Rosie, we can stop paying the Russians for their engines to lift our stuff.
Also if NASA were to develop this same engine it would cost 4 times as much, not counting cost over-runs, and be delayed 5-20 years.
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