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In 1957 the Soviets launched the first artificial satellite into space. In 1969 America landed the first man on the moon, using the Saturn V rocket, capable of
by Veedrac 5y ago
In 1957 the Soviets launched the first artificial satellite into space.
In 1969 America landed the first man on the moon, using the Saturn V rocket, capable of launching 140 tons to LEO.
In 2021 NASA has yet to build a single rocket better than the Saturn V, with the in-construction SLS being not realistically much cheaper, and no more powerful.
We have had zero advances in launch technology from old space in fifty years. There was an attempt in 1981, but that attempt was bad and then they just gave up.
- thechao 5y agoThe book “Ignition!” explains the realities of chemical rockets. The Saturn V is as powerful as it gets, given chemistry and the rocket equation. Modern construction techniques and computers can bring the costs & overheads down, but they can’t make hypergolics better.
- Veedrac 5y agoIt's true we're all working in the margins of efficiency, but that's like saying there's no difference between a Falcon 1 and Starship. Saturn V isn't close to the limits of how big you can make a rocket, nor how efficiently you can make a rocket, nor how cheaply you can fly a rocket for. There have been plenty of proposals along the way for bigger, cheaper, more modular, and more reusable spacecraft, plenty of which are totally compatible with historic methods. Even literally “keep flying Saturn V” would have been better than what we did.