The Saturn V lives again. Now with more rockets and more power!

[Perriwen]

Looks a lot like the good ol' Saturn V, no? Now, imagine a souped up Saturn V...this...could be awesome.


http://msnbcmedia1.msn.com/j/MSNBC/Components/Photo/_new/110914-space-sls-715p.grid-7x2.jpg


WASHINGTON (http://www.bing.com/maps/?v=2&where1=WASHINGTON&sty=h&form=msdate) — The design for NASA's newest behemoth of a rocket hearkens back to the giant workhorse liquid rockets that propelled men to the moon. But this time the destinations will be much farther and the rocket even more powerful.
The Obama administration on Wednesday unveiled its much-delayed general plans for its rocket design (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44517102/ns/technology_and_science-space/), called the Space Launch System, which will cost about $35 billion. It will begin unmanned test flights in six years, and carry astronauts in a capsule on top in a decade.


"This is a great day for NASA and the nation," NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said at a U.S. Senate news conference called to unveil the concept.
Two of the senators who worked with NASA and the White House on the plan, Florida Democrat Bill Nelson and Texas Republican Kay Bailey Hutchison, said they were pleased by the plan and signaled that Congress would give its assent.


"I believe we really are going forward now, all as one, with one goal," Hutchison told journalists. She said the plan was "a commitment that NASA — NASA — is going to lead the pack."


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44517102/ns/technology_and_science-space/#.TnDQbtRof70

[Zee71]

The Saturn V was one of my favorite rockets to say the least. I was always glued to the TV watching the launches during my childhood years.

[Derf]

KICKASS!!! PROUD ONCE AGAIN TO BE AMERICAN! I can not wait to see this mother!!!

[gpalz1]

Back to the future. At least the manufacture and testing of the Orion MPCV is underway.

[T-Bird76]

Oh yeah lets celebrate old ideas that are a decade away..... :frown:

[Perriwen]

Oh yeah lets celebrate old ideas

Like the 747-8? :p

[Derf]

At least we

1. know it works well enough to reuse the exact design
2. is not going to be a moneypit like the Shuttle
3. understand that a new design may not be better than a well thought out design.

Can they make it better...sure
would it be worth it? I think that the guys at NASA would be better at answering that...Oh Wait, they did! :wink:

[Perriwen]

NASA's press release: http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2011/sep/HQ_11-301_SLS_Decision.html

Annnnd an animation! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQxdrFeZkbA&feature=player_embedded#!

[darlyn]

KICKASS!!! PROUD ONCE AGAIN TO BE AMERICAN! I can not wait to see this mother!!!

Right on! My first thought when I saw this on yesterday was a gleeful "OMG YES SATURN V!". The most badass propulsion system ever built being resurrected in the modern-age? That's something I can live with.

Unless some penny-pinching budgeting committee cancels it again.

[cancidas]

i don't get the extra rockets. if the S-V was capable of getting to orbit why the extra power? is the new capsule actually going to be bigger/ heavier?

[Derf]

The Capsule is not the heavy part.... remember, when we went to the moon the LEM and the service module was underneath the reentry vehicle. Being that this is not going to the moon, all the payload will be underneath. The question is what are they going to put into it. A shot into space is a very expensive thing to do and by adding a few solid boosters you are going to get a lot more payload for very little cost. The reason why you need liquid rockets is to the control the burn. The solid rockets are on full power until burnout. Liquid will allow change of direction and control of a burn. That is my $.02 but is probably worth more like $.0000002

[gpalz1]

The SLS is expected to produce 10-20% more thrust then the Saturn Five. It will need to haul 70 -130 metric tons of payload. The Cargo configuration will be about forty feet taller (400 Feet).

http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/588413main_SLS_Fun_Facts.pdf

[Boxman]

I hate to be a skeptic, but as best I can tell this is little more than political cover as we head into the electoral year. The Administration knows Florida will be a hard sell in 2012, especially after the bloodbath unleashed on the space coast.

Congress has been pushing Charlie Bolden and NASA to get this done for a while now, which has been met with footdragging up until this point.

Lo and behold, we are presented with a warmed-over older Constellation heavy-lift design dressed in a Saturn V paint scheme. No more SSMEs are being built, and this monster will use at least 5 each launch. So, what happens when the warehouse of SSME's is emptied? We re-open SSME production, and those responsible for killing Constellation (which ironically lives on in this design and ATK's Liberty launcher), say "Ooops, I did that?"

The cynic in me says this has more to do with Election 2012, and little more than that. No doubt if the same powers that be are in charge at NASA and the White House in 2013 we will be told sometime in 2013/early 2014, "SLS costs too much and it must be sacrificed, but don't worry, we are funding a study of the most awesome and efficient rocket ever built to replace it, and we will have astronauts on it within the next 30 years, and we may even do something inspiring like a fly-by of an Earth-orbiting satellite with it!" :rolleyes:

[Perriwen]

The Capsule is not the heavy part.... remember, when we went to the moon the LEM and the service module was underneath the reentry vehicle. Being that this is not going to the moon, all the payload will be underneath. The question is what are they going to put into it. A shot into space is a very expensive thing to do and by adding a few solid boosters you are going to get a lot more payload for very little cost. The reason why you need liquid rockets is to the control the burn. The solid rockets are on full power until burnout. Liquid will allow change of direction and control of a burn. That is my $.02 but is probably worth more like $.0000002

You also have to factor in the new Crew Exploration Vehicle, which is quite bulky and heavy! This ain't a micromachine like the original Rover.

http://www.nasa.gov/exploration/home/SEV.html

[cancidas]

The cynic in me says this has more to do with Election 2012, and little more than that. No doubt if the same powers that be are in charge at NASA and the White House in 2013 we will be told sometime in 2013/early 2014, "SLS costs too much and it must be sacrificed, but don't worry, we are funding a study of the most awesome and efficient rocket ever built to replace it, and we will have astronauts on it within the next 30 years, and we may even do something inspiring like a fly-by of an Earth-orbiting satellite with it!" :rolleyes:

you're not the only one who feels that way.

[Perriwen]

you're not the only one who feels that way.

Like he has a chance with his poll numbers. I mean, the seat in NY that has been held by a Democrat for 90 years was lost to a guy campaigning to work AGAINST, not with, Obama...in one of the bluest states out there!

It's gonna take far more than this to convince voters. I don't think him working to get the movie about him getting Bin Laden released in October of 2012 is gonna help either. Oh, and then there's his snitch website...