Re:NASA, Lockheed Martin Working to Resolve Artemis II Orion...
by pfdietz on Wednesday April 03, 2024 @05:08PM
(#39923164)
SLS can't even beat F9/FH, never mind Starship. It has already lost.
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Re:NASA, Lockheed Martin Working to Resolve Artemis II Orion...
by ginkgotree on Wednesday April 03, 2024 @08:56PM
(#39925286)
The SLS delivered a crew capable Space Vehicle to Lunar orbit, and the space vehicle returned a crew capable capsule back the Earth. The lift capacity of FH is not capable of that.
This is all about SWaP: Size, Weight, and Power.
Re:NASA, Lockheed Martin Working to Resolve Artemis II Orion...
by pfdietz on Wednesday April 03, 2024 @09:04PM
(#39925367)
The idea that all the components have to go up on a single launcher is nonsense used to justify SLS. It's political engineering, not rational mission design.
Re:NASA, Lockheed Martin Working to Resolve Artemis II Orion...
by ginkgotree on Wednesday April 03, 2024 @09:13PM
(#39925443)
I don't think a Falcon Heavy would retain enough fuel once getting itself in orbit with 0 payload to give enough delta-V to the entire Artemis Space vehicle. That burn has to (generally) happen in a single TLI burn. So there is actually a minimum quanta of delta-V for the mission I don't think FH could meet.
You're welcome to run this in Orbital STK if you like.
Re:NASA, Lockheed Martin Working to Resolve Artemis II Orion...
by pfdietz on Wednesday April 03, 2024 @09:26PM
(#39925544)
Propellant transfer. There's a reason Senator Shelby was so adamant NASA not work on it -- it greatly reduces any need for a launch vehicle as large as SLS.
Re:NASA, Lockheed Martin Working to Resolve Artemis II Orion...
by dotnet00 on Wednesday April 03, 2024 @10:59PM
(#39926085)
Specifically it completely eliminates the need for a non-reusable launch vehicle as large as SLS.
Re:NASA, Lockheed Martin Working to Resolve Artemis II Orion...
by simonh on Thursday April 04, 2024 @02:50AM
(#39927305)
Granted that this is true, FH right now does not have these capabilities and SLS has already done it. For all the amazing success of FH it's completely the wrong vehicle for a mission like this, which is why Starship exists and IMHO is the future.
Re:NASA, Lockheed Martin Working to Resolve Artemis II Orion...
by pfdietz on Thursday April 04, 2024 @04:00AM
(#39927697)
The point is the mission was designed to prop up SLS, not designed to actually be worth doing. A base on the moon could be supported with FH, and much more cheaply than one supported by SLS.