3 ms·
As far as I'm aware, this problem (and associated 'solution') still exists on SLS, which would make sense considering that it too gets a large portion of its th
by dotnet00 4y ago
As far as I'm aware, this problem (and associated 'solution') still exists on SLS, which would make sense considering that it too gets a large portion of its thrust from those giant SRBs.
Of course the proper solution would have been to not mandate the use of such large SRBs since the vibrations still make SLS near useless for launching scientific payloads. The reason for choosing Falcon Heavy for Europa Clipper instead of SLS was that on top of the rocket price difference, it'd cost $1B extra to make Clipper able to handle SLS's vibrations, Congress was insistent on Clipper launching on SLS but backed down when they informed that they'd have to spend an additional $1B on science instead of corruption.
But alas, that sort of dumb stuff is what design by Congress gets you.