RRoan

Same. The conflict is definitely FAR. Tested it with a fresh install with nothing but Atomic Age and FAR installed.

I'm a little confused: does this mod add any parts or does it only contain reworks of the stock parts?

Yes, if your definition of almost identical is "really big and orange with solid boosters". Ares V was a hilarious 200-ton lifter, while the SLS is a 70-ton lifter that might eventually be upgraded to 130 tons.

I did not say that reducing burn time via adding more engines increases ÃŽâ€v, and did in fact say the opposite, so I am unsure why you felt the need to write a multi-paragraph post lecturing me about things I already know. I merely noted that there are cases where an increase in thrust leads to a reduction in the required ÃŽâ€v relative to a design with less thrust, which is completely correct. TWR and TMR are the same if using proper units.

A reduction in vehicle ÃŽâ€v due to added weight is fine if it results in a burn that requires less ÃŽâ€v in the first place. And a one minute orbit insertion burn is going to require a lot less ÃŽâ€v than a seventeen minute one.

Oberth. 10 character limit is tyranny.

Do I use ion engines, you ask? Try doing that with anything else.

Not quite; there was a linear shaped charge running most of the length of the booster that effectively "unzipped" the side of it. This has two consequences: it decreases the thrust, since the gas can now escape out the side instead of the nozzle, and it releases the pressure in the chamber. Since the burn rate of solid fuel is very strongly dependent on the chamber pressure, this considerably slows the burn rate and, ideally, would prevent a detonation. The shuttle SRBs were originally going to have a thrust-termination system consisting of upwards-facing nozzles that would counter the main nozzle if opened (and relieve pressure as well), but this requirement was dropped very early on.

I can get 12 T30s and 4 T45s onto a single orange.

Nearly four hundred nuclear engines have rained down upon KSP in my last ten launches. If things aren't explodifying often, you aren't pushing the game hard enough.

Go big or go home.

Achernar, the most non-spherical star known, has a rotation period almost three and a half times longer than that. I can't imagine an 85-minute period would be survivable for many stars, either.

This is just wrong. The only time congress gives a damn about spaceflight is when they can use it to get political brownie points, which means either spending a lot of money (in their own district) or doing their best to cut the budget to show they're serious about fiscal responsibility (but only if they don't have spaceflight-related jobs in their district). Congress being involved in the minutiae of NASA's budget is the single largest problem the agency has.

I would tell them not to waste exorbitant amounts of money on a flawed concept. Slapping might be involved as well.

you are incorrect the falcon heavy will come with crossfeed