Updates SLS Updates

[Thunder Chicken]

As a taxpayer I'm torn between wanting to see the thing fly to nowhere (and throwing four RS-25s into the ocean in the process) and seeing the thing explode 100 ft above the pad and killing this boondoggle project and ending further waste of taxpayer dollars. And this is coming from a rabid spaceflight fan.

 

[clipper]

As a taxpayer I'm torn between wanting to see the thing fly to nowhere (and throwing four RS-25s into the ocean in the process) and seeing the thing explode 100 ft above the pad and killing this boondoggle project and ending further waste of taxpayer dollars. And this is coming from a rabid spaceflight fan.

can't blame you - I feel robbed and I'm not even an American taxpayer

 

[APDAF]

So I see the Senate Launch System is living up to it's name of just being a jobs program.

 

[Thunder Chicken]

So I see the Senate Launch System is living up to it's name of just being a jobs program.

You mis-spelled Shelby Launch System. He's not running again, so there will be an opening on the appropriations committee next year. To be fair, that was his job (to pull funding and jobs to Alabama), but as a taxpayer I wish the SLS program had better reasons to exist and had actually tried to stay on budget. Everything about this project screamed "BUDGET OVER-RUNS!!" even when it was first proposed. It was a transparent money hand-out to Big Aerospace.

 

[GLS]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1538917267207073795

https://twitter.com/x/status/1538937821758738433

But....

https://twitter.com/x/status/1538947881440362497

 

[Frilock]

God it pains me to know those engines are getting thrown away. If they wanted to do that, I've got a spot on my property cleared and ready to put it on display!

 

[GLS]

God it pains me to know those engines are getting thrown away. If they wanted to do that, I've got a spot on my property cleared and ready to put it on display!

Shhh, your not suposed to say that. Instead say something like: "... they are high-performance engines, with a rich history, e.g., they launched the last Hubble servicing mission, and will now power the maiden flight of SLS, as NASA returns to the Moon".

 

[N_Molson]

Shhh, your not suposed to say that. Instead say something like: "... they are high-performance engines, with a rich history, e.g., they launched the last Hubble servicing mission, and will now power the maiden flight of SLS, as NASA returns to the Moon".

Exactly ?

 

[APDAF]

INB4 it blows up on the pad then spends the next 10 years in comittee.

 

[Max-Q]

it pains me to know those engines are getting thrown away

Why does everyone make such a big deal about the RS-25s?!? Getting sentimental about rocket parts is not good, if you throw 4 RS-25s into the ocean, you build 4 new ones! And what about the Saturn 5? With each flight it used 11 perfectly good engines and dumped most of ‘em in the ocean, but that isn’t/wasn’t a problem…

I've got a spot on my property cleared and ready to put it on display!

Now that you mention it, I have a nice spot for one as well…

 

[N_Molson]

INB4 it blows up on the pad then spends the next 10 years in comittee.

Well we'll know who planted the bomb

 

[Frilock]

Why does everyone make such a big deal about the RS-25s?!? Getting sentimental about rocket parts is not good, if you throw 4 RS-25s into the ocean, you build 4 new ones! And what about the Saturn 5? With each flight it used 11 perfectly good engines and dumped most of ‘em in the ocean, but that isn’t/wasn’t a problem…


Now that you mention it, I have a nice spot for one as well…

Because those engines weren't specifically designed to be reused. Also These engines actually went to space. On a flight I probably watched. And damn it...

 

[GLS]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1538987455784927233

https://twitter.com/x/status/1538988596962770946

 

[GLS]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1539013322615533568

 

[Thunder Chicken]

Why does everyone make such a big deal about the RS-25s?!? Getting sentimental about rocket parts is not good, if you throw 4 RS-25s into the ocean, you build 4 new ones! And what about the Saturn 5? With each flight it used 11 perfectly good engines and dumped most of ‘em in the ocean, but that isn’t/wasn’t a problem…

Because it's pretty much like driving a lightly used Bugatti Chiron to work on a 8-minute commute, then driving it into a junkyard compactor, on 16 separate work days. Yep, this gets you to work for a few weeks, but it sure is a waste of perfectly good and very expensive and specialized hardware.

The F-1s weren't made to be reusable. And we still have several F-1s (and even complete Saturn V stacks) in museums. The Apollo program was very successful in its primary objective to get man to the moon, so the return on the investment was good. The RS-25 were specifically designed to be reusable, and their price reflects that capability and the development effort that went into them. They have designed and are fabricating an expendable version of the RS-25 (RS-25E) which supposedly simplifies their construction, improves performance, and lowers the cost (yeah, right), but they are only meant to go into service once all of the OG RS-25s get thrown into the ocean. And the SLS program objectives right now are still Powerpoint talks and not reality, and my sense is that this program will get shut down for the same reasons the post-Apollo Saturn V programs to go beyond the moon were scrapped - lack of political will and public motivation. Wait until the economy really crashes and taxpayers start asking why we're spending billions to throw rockets into the sea.

I really doubt the SLS program will exist long enough for it to finish tossing all of the old RS-25s into the sea. I can see a situation where SLS gets cancelled after a couple of flights and we'll have a warehouse of new RS-25Es with no booster to attach them too. Waste on top of waste on top of waste.

GLS:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1539013322615533568

Mission managers wondering to continue operations around a rocket leaking hydrogen. Hmmm .... this is a classic setup where schedule pressure and safety collide, and this is where NASA managers typically buckle under the strain and talk themselves into making bad engineering decisions. I really hope they don't add any injuries or fatalities to the cost tally of this boondoggle.

 

[Thunder Chicken]

Well we'll know who planted the bomb

A cylinder containing a stochiometric ratio of hydrogen and oxygen with an igniter is called a _______________:

A. Rocket
B. Bomb
C. All of the above

 

[Sbb1413]

A cylinder containing a stochiometric ratio of hydrogen and oxygen with an igniter is called a _______________:

A. Rocket
B. Bomb
C. All of the above

A rocket is basically tons of bombs and explosives, with a payload at the top with the hope that the payload is safe from the explosives.

 

[Frilock]

I know, I know, I'm being too sentimental about those engines, but damn, when I was a kid/teenager/kid watching those things light up and those boosters fire, and seeing it all land again, it was the closest thing there was to magic. To know that's all just getting thrown away now for some moon mission that we all know probably isn't going to happen because the next politician wants to go somewhere else....

 

[N_Molson]

I know, I know, I'm being too sentimental about those engines, but damn, when I was a kid/teenager/kid watching those things light up and those boosters fire, and seeing it all land again, it was the closest thing there was to magic. To know that's all just getting thrown away now for some moon mission that we all know probably isn't going to happen because the next politician wants to go somewhere else....

If the program (and NASA) had some minimal popular support the production line of those engines would be healthy and could be easily replaced. Its not the SLS that sends RS-25 engines to trash, its USA that sent 30 years of space program to trash because a couple of billionaires bought the whole thing for their DC Comics fantaisies.

 

[Frilock]

If the program (and NASA) had some minimal popular support the production line of those engines would be healthy and could be easily replaced. Its not the SLS that sends RS-25 engines to trash, its USA that sent 30 years of space program to trash because a couple of billionaires bought the whole thing for their DC Comics fantaisies.

Uhg, don't remind me of the penis rockets ?