Author Topic: Launching SA-514?  (Read 2095 times)

Offline MattJL

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Launching SA-514?
« on: 06/22/2014 12:24 am »
So maybe I've been too hyped up on Apollo fever lately, but I've been thinking:  One whole Saturn V - SA-514 - exists in two different museums, along with CSM-111 and LM-9.  If some wealthy bajillionare had the motivation, would it be possible to cobble together the components of a single Apollo mission from these parts (and a few interstages salvaged from the US Space and Rocket Center) and successfully fly it?  What would it take?  Would it be worth it from a private/commercial standpoint?

I know that this question has probably been asked a bunch of times before, but my ten minutes of Googling haven't turned up much.

Offline Bob Shaw

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Re: Launching SA-514?
« Reply #1 on: 06/22/2014 12:45 am »
No. Lots of corrosion, crystallised wiring, decay due to gravity sag, cracked welds, birds nests, no spares, no paperwork... ...I could go on. Building one from scratch, slightly modernised, maybe. In the UK there are several main line steam locomotives which have been recently built using pre/post WWII designs, tweaked for modern conditions; similarly, there are many elderly aircraft flying, lovingly maintained by dedicated teams. None of these are exactly cheap, or even economically sane (though compared to modern diesel or electric locomotives the hand-made alternatives are not quite as expensive as one might expect!).

And then there's the standing army required to fly the beasts...

After the final Apollo flights to the Moon were cancelled there were some reasonably serious attempts made to raise the marginal costs required to fly one or two missions with what were then reasonably current bits of kit; nothing happened. In today's wired world, crowdfunding might actually make something happen, but a full-on Saturn-Apollo flight is rather pushing it, joy though it would be.

Offline Burninate

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Re: Launching SA-514?
« Reply #2 on: 06/22/2014 12:50 am »
In today's wired world, crowdfunding on a non-productized aspirational goal like this might get you to $100K-$1M in a case of outstanding success.  You would need something on the order of $1B-$10B.  Definitely more than you would need to buy equivalent mass in Falcon Heavy launches, possibly more than you would need to get the BFR program rolling.
« Last Edit: 06/22/2014 12:51 am by Burninate »

Offline MATTBLAK

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Re: Launching SA-514?
« Reply #3 on: 06/22/2014 01:00 am »
Might have been possible in the 1980s, but not now. To refurbish even one Saturn V for launch might cost ('back of napkin calculations') 2 billion dollars with at least 2 billion more needed for support infrastructure. It would be a restoration job tantamount to practically rebuilding the rockets. The only really plausible thing would be to refurbish the F-1 engines and use them on a new project or launcher. Seek out the novel 'Titan' by Stephen Baxter that portrays the repair and launch of all the Saturn V's!

http://www.amazon.com/Titan-Stephen-Baxter-ebook/dp/B00BS06UVE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1403398831&sr=8-1&keywords=Titan+Stephen+Baxter
« Last Edit: 06/22/2014 11:16 am by MATTBLAK »
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Offline Bob Shaw

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Re: Launching SA-514?
« Reply #4 on: 06/22/2014 01:05 am »
Perhaps the answer is a CSM named 'Enterprise' and an LM named 'Firefly'...

Nice names, huh? Hit the fans!

Offline Bob Shaw

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Re: Launching SA-514?
« Reply #5 on: 06/22/2014 01:06 am »
Oh, and if there's a Jupiter mission named 'Discovery' I may have to sell my house...

Offline MATTBLAK

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Re: Launching SA-514?
« Reply #6 on: 06/22/2014 01:20 am »
Perhaps the answer is a CSM named 'Enterprise' and an LM named 'Firefly'...

Nice names, huh? Hit the fans!
If the LM is the 'Shuttle' and the CSM the 'Mothership', then the LM should be called 'Galileo'.
"Those who can't, Blog".   'Space Cadets' of the World - Let us UNITE!! (crickets chirping)

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