Quote from: parham55 on 03/07/2014 05:47 pmGreat work baldusi!I 2nd that
Great work baldusi!
To quote my favorite Vulcan (one eyebrow rises) Fascinating. Question: If SpaceX builds a this or any HLV, will NASA then be legally required to give up SLS and begin purchasing from SpaceX? Would it depend upon how far along they are with SLS? I could see certain senators wanting to protect SLS. With SpaceX costs being lower and the HLV all made in US, I could also see a lot of pressure to dump SLS. I wonder how many within NASA would want to preserve their HLV and how many would want to drop it in favor of the lower cost LV to enable payload/mission funding. Say SLS has flown 4 times and now needs RS-25e and possibly advanced boosters as well at the same time the new SpaceX HLV comes on line, SLS needs to move to a new block, yet its proponents are citing its performance record as evidence it should continue in a new block rather than being replaced by SX-HLV.How do you see any or all of these scenarios playing out?
An absolutely superb article!That the super-heavy lifter would certainly have a lot of commercial applications if its launch cost per pound is low. Launching a large number of satellites per launch would be just one.
Thanks Chris for giving me the opportunity to write on your site. You've been a wonderful editor and brought the best parts. BTW, those graphics are awesome. I can't believe I was part of this
Question: If SpaceX builds a this or any HLV, will NASA then be legally required to give up SLS and begin purchasing from SpaceX?
Excellent article. I now have a basic understanding of what FFSC is for a rocket engine, and why it might be useful. Keep up the good work. Is this the engine the SpaceX guys are testing at Stennis? Well, testing the components anyways...
Has anybody run the numbers on a rocket using 1 of these as a first stage engine?
Question: If SpaceX builds a this or any HLV, will NASA then be legally required to give up SLS and begin purchasing from SpaceX? Would it depend upon how far along they are with SLS?
Quote from: TomH on 03/07/2014 07:08 pmQuestion: If SpaceX builds a this or any HLV, will NASA then be legally required to give up SLS and begin purchasing from SpaceX? Would it depend upon how far along they are with SLS?No, for a number of reasons.From a contracts standpoint the contracts have already been awarded, and there was no provision for re-competing the original need in case alternatives showed up later.From a political standpoint, in my opinion, the SLS was only conceived to stop layoffs from the cancellation of the Constellation program, and not to address a known amount of approved or funded HLV-sized payloads that needed to be moved to space. No need to debate this point, I'm just pointing out that this would be yet another reason why even if SpaceX had an HLV sitting on the pad ready to launch today, Senator Shelby would not vote to end the SLS.The only thing that will stop the SLS at this point is the realization that there is no need for an HLV, regardless who owns it.So why is SpaceX building their own? For their own needs, and not anyone else's. Certainly not to compete against the SLS.
Quote from: Coastal Ron on 03/07/2014 10:10 pmQuote from: TomH on 03/07/2014 07:08 pmQuestion: If SpaceX builds a this or any HLV, will NASA then be legally required to give up SLS and begin purchasing from SpaceX? Would it depend upon how far along they are with SLS?No, for a number of reasons.From a contracts standpoint the contracts have already been awarded, and there was no provision for re-competing the original need in case alternatives showed up later.From a political standpoint, in my opinion, the SLS was only conceived to stop layoffs from the cancellation of the Constellation program, and not to address a known amount of approved or funded HLV-sized payloads that needed to be moved to space. No need to debate this point, I'm just pointing out that this would be yet another reason why even if SpaceX had an HLV sitting on the pad ready to launch today, Senator Shelby would not vote to end the SLS.The only thing that will stop the SLS at this point is the realization that there is no need for an HLV, regardless who owns it.So why is SpaceX building their own? For their own needs, and not anyone else's. Certainly not to compete against the SLS.And one other point: Boeing/LM/ULA are "commercial" providers. Just because they get all their funding from NASA to build the SLS does not mean they are a government owned department. Does NASA do 100% of the design and they just build the parts to NASA's specs? If so then maybe you can claim NASA is the builder and not ULA.
Quote from: arachnitect on 03/07/2014 08:42 pmHas anybody run the numbers on a rocket using 1 of these as a first stage engine?What would be the point of such vehicle? Inferior to F9 and almost certainly expendable.
Quote from: R7 on 03/07/2014 09:54 pmQuote from: arachnitect on 03/07/2014 08:42 pmHas anybody run the numbers on a rocket using 1 of these as a first stage engine?What would be the point of such vehicle? Inferior to F9 and almost certainly expendable.What's the point of the 9 engined beast they say it is for?I'm trying to figure out if this thing fits anywhere else.