🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <11316@polyslo.CalPoly.EDU>, jmckerna@polyslo.CalPoly.EDU (John McKernan) writes:
}In article <136@enuxha.eas.asu.edu> kluksdah@enuxha.eas.asu.edu (Norman C. Kluksdahl) writes:
}>Why the *(&) did we throw away Saturn V????
}We threw away the Saturn V because it was a very expensive, virtually hand
}built rocket that was thrown away after every use. The idea of a reusable
}rocket is really very sound in theory, although it turns out to be a bit
}difficult to execute (especially by a government bureaucracy). With 20/20
}hindsight a big dumb booster made with relatively low performance parts was
}probably the way to go.

Compared to the Shuttle, the Saturn *is* a BDB....  And, as has been discussed
many times before, there was a lot of politics involved in making sure that
the Saturn V would never fly again, even before the Shuttle was complete.
Why, oh why do we have to throw away proven hardware before the new technology
proves itself (or is even available, for that matter)?  The Soviets are still
launching many of their payloads on the same boosters they had 25 years ago,
and doing so in rain, freezing weather, snow storms, etc.  When you've used the
same launcher over a thousand times, you have a pretty good idea how it will
behave....

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