The articlehttp://spacenews.com/nasa-weighs-new-mobile-launcher-for-sls/puts the cost of a new ML at $300M + the cost of what it takes to modify the ML-1 in which a new ML-2 that supports SLS 1B but the ML-1 would only support SLS 1A since it would no longer be modified due to lack of funds.The start date would be if it is requested in the next budget FY2019 of 1 Oct 2018 at earliest. It is always possible for if there is some funds to start it earlier but you still need Congressional authority to obligate the government to any across FY projects. At the current rate of legislation that authority may be sometime in Jan 2019. But there is one question that was not answered in the article and that was how long would it take to build a new ML once the work started? How long has it taken/will take for the first ML to be built?That value could be used as a way to evaluate whether a new ML can meet the schedules needed (available earlier than a ML-1 reworked and a delayed to June 2020 EM-1 launch date. That would be a time to build of < 53 months. Any longer and a new ML does not solve schedule problems but causes more schedule problems.
Gerstenmaier also said that from procurement to delivery, it will take 5 years to build the second Mobile Launch Platform.
Am I missing something besides my marbles lately? 5 years to build a gantry? They built most of the KSC complex faster. I was big SLS-fan, but this is starting to resemble something out of an old "Mad" magazine...
Quote from: eric z on 04/25/2018 09:59 pm Am I missing something besides my marbles lately? 5 years to build a gantry? They built most of the KSC complex faster. I was big SLS-fan, but this is starting to resemble something out of an old "Mad" magazine...Not just the gantry, but also the big boxy launch platform. And it's that glorious red tape. All NASA projects have to be open competition, studied, an environmental assessment done, etc. Then the work orders are "signed in triplicate, sent in, sent back, queried, lost, found, subjected to public inquiry, lost again, and finally buried in soft peat for three months" to quote HHGTTG.
Am I missing something besides my marbles lately? 5 years to build a gantry?
Quote from: eric z on 04/25/2018 09:59 pm Am I missing something besides my marbles lately? 5 years to build a gantry? Not a gantry, but an umbilical tower.
The key problem is a design that meets the total weight constraints for the crawler.That was the main driver towards a second MLP or a very long duration upgrade to SLS 1B for MLP1.If it was just a stationary tower and platform the design could be quickly done as well as the construction.