_Augustus_ Posted April 28, 2017 Share Posted April 28, 2017 (edited) EDIT: Today is the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11 touching down on the Moon. I have been overly critical of SLS and I think most of y'all have been too. Please, before citing Eric Berger (who has almost zero credibility) and going on your ridiculous anti-SLS rants. SLS will probably fly in late 2020/early 2021 and while LOPG and Orion may or may not be ideal they're what we've got, and without funding for Starship I think the Artemis Program is a worthwhile, conservative approach to get back to the Moon. Edited July 21, 2019 by _Augustus_ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frybert Posted April 28, 2017 Share Posted April 28, 2017 Please do not start new threads on this at this time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monstah Posted April 28, 2017 Share Posted April 28, 2017 Allright, lets try this out again. It seems like the old threads will stay glued, but we believe the new ones won't give you trouble. *turns thread back on* *steps back cautiously* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Augustus_ Posted May 1, 2017 Author Share Posted May 1, 2017 SLS engine section test article loaded onto barge https://www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/sls/multimedia/engine-section-test-article-loaded-on-barge-pegasus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Augustus_ Posted May 10, 2017 Author Share Posted May 10, 2017 LOX dome dropped, damaged beyond repair http://nasawatch.com/archives/2017/05/sls-lox-dome-dr.html Uh oh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tater Posted May 10, 2017 Share Posted May 10, 2017 Buh, bye early 2019. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Green Baron Posted May 10, 2017 Share Posted May 10, 2017 Well, i don't like the fact. Lightweights. Others drop landers on Mars. I hope nobody had a foot under it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Augustus_ Posted May 10, 2017 Author Share Posted May 10, 2017 1 minute ago, tater said: Buh, bye early 2019. If this is true, SLS will be mothballed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tater Posted May 10, 2017 Share Posted May 10, 2017 They have no slop in their schedule right now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperFastJellyfish Posted May 10, 2017 Share Posted May 10, 2017 How unfortunate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frozen_Heart Posted May 10, 2017 Share Posted May 10, 2017 1 hour ago, _Augustus_ said: If this is true, SLS will be mothballed. It will already be scrapped after 2 or 3 missions. They only have the engines for 4 flights and the place that makes them was closed down so no more are coming. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Augustus_ Posted May 10, 2017 Author Share Posted May 10, 2017 Thankfully, it was just a test tank...... http://www.al.com/news/huntsville/index.ssf/2017/05/test_fuel_tank_for_space_launc.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tater Posted May 10, 2017 Share Posted May 10, 2017 Presumably the tank is needed to actually test something, though, or was it to test the tooling? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arugela Posted May 10, 2017 Share Posted May 10, 2017 It already tested the tool and the new black project is off and running! >< Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
razark Posted May 12, 2017 Share Posted May 12, 2017 EM-1 will not be manned. EM-2 will be the first crewed flight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Augustus_ Posted May 12, 2017 Author Share Posted May 12, 2017 EM-1 won't be manned. https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2017/05/nasa-em-1-uncrewed-costs-main-reason/ Additional delays thanks to the accident this week and the fact that apparently the LH2 tank was defective mean that it's unlikely that even 2019 is going to work - EM-1 will probably push into 2020. I will not be surprised if Congress or POTUS cancels SLS after Elon flies his Moon mission. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tater Posted May 12, 2017 Share Posted May 12, 2017 (edited) SLS will fly a couple times at least. past that, it's hard to say. They've spent a ton of money, and they never quit while they are ahead. The marked difference in crew rating SLS vs COTS is pretty stunning. Crew on SLS after ONE launch, no crew on D2/F9 or CST-100/Atlas until 7 flights with a locked design configuration. Edited May 12, 2017 by tater Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZooNamedGames Posted May 12, 2017 Share Posted May 12, 2017 Come on... Again? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tater Posted May 12, 2017 Share Posted May 12, 2017 (edited) SLS/Orion has zero excess time in their schedule at this point, and while they are supposed to run at 20-30% in contingency funds, they spend every penny they get, they have zero money for problems. Seems like a single worker taking a sick day would actually impact program schedule, lol. They're rapidly approaching a point where it is possible that BO will be flying a reusable booster capable of lofting a payload in a flush, 7m fairing (so they could easily bump it to SLS-diameter) before EM-2. Given their hopefully good relationship with ULA (supplying the engines for Vulcan), it seems like NG might be a reasonable LV for Orion, actually, along with perhaps even the SLS EUS (or a version of it). Edited May 12, 2017 by tater Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Augustus_ Posted May 12, 2017 Author Share Posted May 12, 2017 (edited) 49 minutes ago, tater said: It seems like NG might be a reasonable LV for Orion, actually, along with perhaps even the SLS EUS (or a version of it). Orion would work very well on New Glenn, but unless you flew it expendable you couldn't get it to EML2. NG has its own 3rd stage that will probably be better than EUS. Edited May 12, 2017 by _Augustus_ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tater Posted May 12, 2017 Share Posted May 12, 2017 Or they could use a centaur/ACES variant. Centaur is bulletproof, and NASA stuff intentionally spreads stuff out. SLS/Orion employs thousands of people in 44 States. Hence broad support... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kerbiloid Posted May 14, 2017 Share Posted May 14, 2017 (edited) offtop Spoiler When I was a child, I everytime got confused looking at "Spaceship" attractions in amuzement parks. Why do they call a strange tiny conical thing "a spaceship", when "spaceship" is a large sphere with a cylinder behind, where two spacemen are flying in zero-G. Nobody could answer me, too, until years later I saw this strange thing in an encyclopaedia. Edited May 14, 2017 by kerbiloid Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soda Popinski Posted May 14, 2017 Share Posted May 14, 2017 On 5/10/2017 at 2:34 PM, Frozen_Heart said: It will already be scrapped after 2 or 3 missions. They only have the engines for 4 flights and the place that makes them was closed down so no more are coming. I thought RS-25E or RS-25F were to be made as replacements for the RS-25. They (Aeroject Rocketdyne) haven't even started manufacturing them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StupidAndy Posted May 15, 2017 Share Posted May 15, 2017 aww...I was looking forward to seeing the SLS launch before the 2020s, I have always wanted to see a absolutely huge rocket take off, but all I can see now is the F9 not that its bad, but I want to see something like the Saturn V take off, without that really bad 1960s cameras oh well... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tater Posted May 15, 2017 Share Posted May 15, 2017 NASA is apparently looking into a Delta IV Heavy launch for Orion (launch abort test at max Q?). Seems like a FH could be modified for the same task for less than the difference between 90 M$ and 375 M$ (D IVH). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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