From: Robert J. Bradbury (bradbury@aeiveos.com)
Date: Sat Sep 06 2003 - 08:14:17 MDT
On Fri, 5 Sep 2003, Spike wrote:
> The way to the future isn't back. We have a lot of high
> techy aluminum alloys now that weren't available in the 60s,
> as well as composite materials. We could build a biggie
> throwaway booster again today, on the scale of the Saturn V,
> only better.
Ok Spike -- you are the one who said "better", here you go:
http://www.nasm.edu/apollo/FIGURES/Fig49a.jpg
Use the current Russian RD-180 engines [1] (or RD-170 engines)
or the SSME [2] (take into account fuel/weight differences)
and get me a first stage booster with Saturn V liftoff capacity.
> But there is probably no way to do it as
> cheaply as the Russians can.
Understood -- which is why I thought I had asked the question
as to whether the Energia could still be built (and how much
it might cost) though perhaps I forgot to mention it.
*But* aren't the RD-180's being built in the U.S.?
Then throw in some discussion about costs to bring the 1st
stage back for reuse (SSME can be reused -- I'm not sure about
the RD-180's) -- there has to be some cost involved getting
it back to Earth without having it burn up in the atmosphere.
(Where the hell do the Russian 1st stage boosters end up anyway?
Someplace in the Pacific?)
Robert
1. http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/9.12/rd-180.html
2. http://www.spaceandtech.com/spacedata/engines/ssme_specs.shtml
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