_Augustus_

So if Block I is making three flights (EM-1, EM-2, Clipper), we're only going to see five Block IB flights. Based on the recent delay of Block IB, the lack of support from POTUS, Shelby leaving the committee, and now Bridenstine plain ignoring SLS/Orion, I think the end is near...........

BE-4 Vulcan confirmed????

My requirements actually aren't that high. One of my most-used telescopes is a 60mm refractor. However, OP's scope has poor optics and a poor mount, and it's quite possible it doesn't even take 1.25" eyepieces. There are bare minimum requirements for a telescope to be usable, and OP's scope does not remotely reach them even with upgraded accessories.

So EFT-1 was a complete waste of money and time?

GET REKT ARS

Nearly $650 million in NASA budget overruns in the last year alone, SLS/Orion major contributors http://spacenews.com/gao-warns-of-worsening-cost-and-schedule-performance-on-nasa-programs/

ULA strike could delay InSight http://spacenews.com/union-recommends-members-reject-ula-contract-proposal/

Unfortunately what you've been given is pretty much a toy. Wouldn't bother wasting time/money making it work. A list of recommended telescopes under $500: Or alternatively you can get some astronomy binoculars for under $100:

Who cares? Most of the heavier F9 payloads are going to be moved to FH, and thus both will probably have enough margins on most flights to RTLS anyway. Glenn can't RTLS.

Boeing is now running propaganda promoting and taking credit for SLS, acting like Dragon 2 doesn't exist, claiming FH is useless, etc. http://nasawatch.com/archives/2018/04/boeings-mislead.html

Agreed wholeheartedly. Killjoy.

https://arstechnica.com/science/2018/04/nasa-budgeting-reveals-dim-hopes-for-humans-going-to-mars/ Boeing: SLS is the only launch vehicle capable of reaching Mars. If NASA gives us a ton of money, we'll land on Mars within a decade. SLS is a Boeing rocket. Everything but SLS is a fraud. NASA Report: We can't afford Mars with SLS anytime soon, and probably not even the Moon. Mars in the 2050s is probably only barely possible with SLS. Moon in the 2030s, maybe. Please save us from SLS. Gerst: Maybe we are being scammed......... Grunsfeld: DSG is just ARM without the cool part of the asteroid designed to give the contractors something to do. NASA is a failure until we get an administration that really cares, unlike the past few that merely pretend to and propose vague goals without deliverance of funding. Dennis Mullenberg is an idiot, as is Jerry Dreilling. SLS is obviously not the only LV capable of reaching Mars (seriously, how dumb do you have to be to say this nonsense?), and even if it was made a "national priority" NASA and the contractors would screw up a Mars mission with SLS before 2030 due to cost overruns and delays anyway. SLS is not made solely or even 75% by Boeing - only the core stage is and maybe parts of the upper stage. If Boeing really cared about putting humans on Mars, they'd be building a rocket to do so that's better than SLS. Boeing is a typical example of the corrupt military-industrial complex that created boondoggles such as SLS and they like SLS because it gives them lots of cash for relatively little work - they couldn't care less if SLS even actually flies.

EM-1 capsule looks far from finished.

It takes NASA five years to build a launch pad. Let that sink in.

It's not like there could be a COTS-style space tug program...

Why do we get SLS/SpaceX crossovers on our threads every couple dozen pages?

Senator Shelby, one of the biggest SLS advocates, will be replaced in November. Bridenstine is not a big SLS advocate. POTUS/VP are not really SLS fans. Without Block IB, it's no longer justifiable for any kind of useful missions. It will be cancelled before or shortly after EM-1.

Isn't BO building a factory there?

SLS is going to be cancelled before EM-1 ever flies. It's delayed beyond belief, Block IB is now a "someday" so DSG flying on SLS is a nonstarter, and Block I makes little sense for cargo as it has significantly less payload to TLI/TMI/TJI than FH does.

DIVH is retired for all intents and purposes. Production line has been shut down. It'd make more sense to just build adapters to fly Orion on New Glenn, Vulcan, and FH.

Orion is so delayed that EM-2 won't happen until 2023 at the earliest, and that'll be a weaksauce Apollo 8 recreation. New Glenn and FH are both capable of the nearly the same deep space payload as Block I, and Block IB is so delayed that it won't fly until the latter half of the 2020s. That means DSG will be delayed or end up flying on commercial LVs anyway. Orion can't fly on FH, but New Glenn should be able to bring it to TLI and a dual Vulcan/ACES launch could as well. SLS is hard to justify with Block IB.... with only Block I it's nearly useless. Also, a 1970s rocket that costs billions of dollars a year to maintain is not a step forwards....... SLS Block I was never designed to fly Orion to TLI with comanifested payloads to build DSG, so EM-2 is now going to be a pointless demo flight, as EM-3 will likely be as well. ACES is literally Centaur V with reuse/longer lifetime upgrades. If NASA wanted ACES, they could get it sooner than 2025. And that's still earlier than Block IB will probably fly.

SLS Block I has a replacement - it's called Falcon Heavy and has already flown. SLS Block I's only advantage over FH is in being able to lob Orion to TLI, and New Glenn should be able to perform that function, as can a dual Vulcan/ACES launch. Block IB isn't going to fly until 2026 at this rate, and Block II probably never will. Without the EUS, SLS barely even qualifies as an SHLV anymore, and has no practical purpose that a commercial HLV can't fill.

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2018/04/22/newt-gingrich-glimpse-america-s-future-in-space-in-2024.html Newt Gingrich: Kill SLS already, otherwise the US looks like a bunch of morons. We could have dozens of FH and Glenn flights by 2024. In-orbit assembly is the future of manned space travel. BFR will make SLS look like the joke it is. I mean, really, with the new changes to the mission lineup, there's no justification for SLS anymore at all. DSG will end up either being super delayed or launched on commercial LVs, and Europa Clipper (assuming it still flies on SLS) will make a slightly faster journey compared to launching on an Atlas or Falcon. What are EM-2 and EM-3 even supposed to do now that they can't co-manifest payloads?

RIP Angosat http://russianspaceweb.com/angosat.html#1

Soyuz-5/Sunkar is basically Russian Zenit. The SHLV is a bunch of Sunkars strapped together with several upper stages on top.