[New] Space Launch System / Orion Discussion Thread

[Minmus Taster]

15 minutes ago, JoeSchmuckatelli said:

Chance it goes 'boom'?

I swear to Jeb if it blows up-

[tater]

It's not like no one would notice.

[darthgently]

On 3/1/2022 at 12:55 PM, tater said:

OP for this thread has said something similar, even when we knew what the RS-25 refurb cost (~$128M each), and that the SRBs alone are ~$950M a set.

One wonders what would be the result if a professional team of efficiency experts audited these processes from top to bottom how much fat they could carve off.  I simply can't imagine what possible set of operations involved in these refurbs could possibly add up to these numbers when other companies are building far more complexity from scratch for much less.  Or so it seems.  Maybe I need my gut calibrated, but I smell lots and lots of overflowing gravy troughs

[StrandedonEarth]

32 minutes ago, darthgently said:

One wonders what would be the result if a professional team of efficiency experts audited these processes from top to bottom how much fat they could carve off.  I simply can't imagine what possible set of operations involved in these refurbs could possibly add up to these numbers when other companies are building far more complexity from scratch for much less.  Or so it seems.  Maybe I need my gut calibrated, but I smell lots and lots of overflowing gravy troughs

Well, there’s the person that torques the bolt. Then there’s the person that verifies that it was torqued correctly and signs off on it. Then there’s the person that verifies everything was signed off correctly. Followed by the person that…

[RCgothic]

 

 

[tater]

 

 

[tater]

Last T=0 was after 6pm, bet they scrub

[Beccab]

14 minutes ago, tater said:

Last T=0 was after 6pm, bet they scrub

 

[NFUN]

i am ROLLING you can't make this excrements up

[tater]

 

 

[darthgently]

Not enough accountability.  Those with authority to audit the process are in the "graft loop" instead of the "efficiency controlling" loop.  It is like a PID controller that has been hacked internally and by lobbyists to make itself wealthier and more important instead of actually auditing and increasing efficiency like it was set up to do by Congress.  Just a big corporate welfare program

[RCgothic]

You'd think spending a billion dollars would ensure "right first time".

[Beccab]

It's useful to compare this to the first Saturn V WDR during apollo 4: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_4

"The countdown demonstration test [which is to say, the WDR] had been scheduled for September 20 but was soon rescheduled for the 25th and did not begin until the evening of the 27th. By October 2, another two days had been lost to delays, but by October 4 it reached launch minus 45 minutes. Then a computer failed, and the count, reset to 13 hours before launch, resumed on October 9. More computer and equipment problems appeared. By then, the launch team was exhausted and a two-day break was declared. The test was completed on October 13,[20] meaning that it took three weeks rather than the expectation of a week or slightly over. With world attention on the launch, NASA public relations head Julian Scheer brought the skeptical questions from the media as to whether Apollo 4 would ever fly to the attention of NASA Administrator James E. Webb, leading to a heated meeting in which Webb stated that he would announce the launch date when he wanted to."

If history repeats itself, we may see a delay of a couple weeks even

Edited April 3, 2022 by Beccab

[StrandedonEarth]

24 minutes ago, Beccab said:

It's useful to compare this to the first Saturn V WDR during apollo 4: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_4

"The countdown demonstration test [which is to say, the WDR] had been scheduled for September 20 but was soon rescheduled for the 25th and did not begin until the evening of the 27th. By October 2, another two days had been lost to delays, but by October 4 it reached launch minus 45 minutes. Then a computer failed, and the count, reset to 13 hours before launch, resumed on October 9. More computer and equipment problems appeared. By then, the launch team was exhausted and a two-day break was declared. The test was completed on October 13,[20] meaning that it took three weeks rather than the expectation of a week or slightly over. With world attention on the launch, NASA public relations head Julian Scheer brought the skeptical questions from the media as to whether Apollo 4 would ever fly to the attention of NASA Administrator James E. Webb, leading to a heated meeting in which Webb stated that he would announce the launch date when he wanted to."

If history repeats itself, we may see a delay of a couple weeks even

[tater]

Seems odd that they could not test the GSE somehow without a vehicle. Just to test the feed lines, etc.

[RCgothic]

The reason given for the delay strikes me - no positive pressure means hazardous gasses can't be certainly excluded from parts of the ML, so technicians can't safely access those spaces.

Technicians in proximity to an enormous rocket during first fuelling operations is definitely a... thing.

[StrandedonEarth]

10 minutes ago, tater said:

Seems odd that they could not test the GSE somehow without a vehicle. Just to test the feed lines, etc.

True, but, there's always the unexpected things, like perhaps the weight of the vehicle flexed something a bit too much, or it broke after it was tested, or...

[tater]

Can't be too bad if there is a 24 hour turn around.

[darthgently]

6 hours ago, StrandedonEarth said:

True, but, there's always the unexpected things, like perhaps the weight of the vehicle flexed something a bit too much, or it broke after it was tested, or...

They turn into gremlins after getting wet.  But when they reach space....Kraken!

[tater]

 

[tater]

 

 

[Beccab]

 

[tater]

 

 

[tater]

Scrub

 

 

 

 

[Scotius]

Hydrogen. Slippery as ever. I'm not even mad - Houdini-esque tendencies of H2 are well known.