I've got to get Baxter's book after reading this thread. I love that you are bringing this to life. Oh, on a side note, what ever happened to the 'Nova' booster? I remember reading some of my Dad's National Geographics from the era and word at the time seemed to be that the Nova was the next big thing after Saturn. Now a Googly search turns up nothing
I've got to get Baxter's book after reading this thread. I love that you are bringing this to life.
Upon more consideration, the MEM test could have been a dual launch. A Saturn V putting up the MEM and a IB putting up Apollo.
I like your chart. I'm gonna print it out and put it in a cheap frame.
yes, I think there would have been Saturn IB launches to support the construction. At least for launches 2 - 4.Or, Apollo's from Skylab would have been brought over.
My mental picture, in contrast to yours, was launches 6 - 10 would have looked like 4 and 5 with an S-II tank, but I admit I never calculated the volume requirements for fuel and oxidizer.
I also think the MS-IV and MS-II launches, particularly if they were empty, would be conducted by stock Saturn V's. And maybe the tanker flights as well. The Skylab launch did not, I believe, come close to the payload capacity of the two stage Saturn V launch. I'd have to calculate them up.
Since they had three pads, they could keep up a pretty fast cadence. The MS-IVB and MS-II and the first ET could have all been on the pad and launched within days of each other. Rolling out the 2nd ET could have been done right quickly with the addition of a 4th Mobile Launcher so within 30-60 days, the basic vehicle would have been assembled.