Quote from: hektor on 03/13/2019 02:10 pmFor me the key issue remains this rendez vous and docking thing...Why is that likely to be an issue? Vehicles dock with the ISS on a regular basis. Heck, even Apollo involved the Command Vehicle "docking" with the LEM. Isn't this a solved problem?
For me the key issue remains this rendez vous and docking thing...
Not for EM-1. The first mission which was supposed to perform docking so far was EM-3 which is much later.
If they are that desperate that says a lot about the SLS issues.
We need to consider all options to meet the Exploration Mission-1 target launch date of June 2020, including launching on commercial rockets.
Yes but for instance it is rarely foreseen to apply a large and long acceleration by a rocket on the docked combination. For me this is new territory. And once again I am not sure that the provisions for docking are currently implemented on the Orion for EM-1. For instance a docking port needs power, mechanical connection with the structure, computer commands, etc. We are talking of a spacecraft whose construction is nearly complete.
The reason for the rush is that Trump wants something to show as his own achievement with NASA before the 2020 election.
I feel like I'm watching The Martian. What's next, a secret Chinese heavy-lift launcher?
It seems unlikely to me that ULA could procure 2 Delta IV Heavies in 15 months. SpaceX might be able to pull that off (especially if you are willing to go re-used). The 1 FH and 1 D4H is more likely.
Quote from: rockets4life97 on 03/13/2019 03:37 pmIt seems unlikely to me that ULA could procure 2 Delta IV Heavies in 15 months. SpaceX might be able to pull that off (especially if you are willing to go re-used). The 1 FH and 1 D4H is more likely.As long as ULA can rustle up a Delta heavy in time, the one of each approach would have to do. As enthusiastic as SpaceX is about fast turnarounds, I think the fastest they'd be able to do 2 Falcon Heavies from 39a would be in the neighborhood 2 weeks between each launch, if they had all 6 boosters ready to go. Would Orion and the SM be able to loiter in LEO that long?