NASA's Launch of Biggest Rocket Since Saturn V

[jblomenberg16]

I searched around quite a bit and didn't see a post yet, but it may be a dupe. This is a video of the Aries IX launch that is eventually going to carry man back to the moon, which isthe largest rocket the US has shot off since the Saturn V original moon rocket days.

What I think is cool is that the first stage is more or less just one of the two solid rocket boosters used on the Space Shuttle (with a little more solid fuel added).

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCrn0jfYut4]YouTube - ARES I-X Launch[/ame]

 

[shooter521]

 

[jblomenberg16]

Awesome photo as it breaks through Mach 1!

 

[rambone]

So cool.

 

[dburkhead]

Cool maybe, but put it in perspective.

So, 42 years after the first Saturn V flew, NASA has a test rocket (Ares I-X is a stage test, not the complete system) which, when/if the final rocket flies, will have about 1/5 the capacity they had 42 years ago.

And that's if Obama and the Dems in Congress even let it happen.

"What man has achieved, man may aspire to"

 

[printcraft]

So, 42 years after the first Saturn V flew, NASA has a test rocket (Ares I-X is a stage test, not the complete system) which, when/if the final rocket flies, will have about 1/5 the capacity they had 42 years ago.

And that's if Obama and the Dems in Congress even let it happen.

"What man has achieved, man may aspire to"

I can't see undertaking another vehicle like the Saturn V in todays dollars.
The engineers would want to design another vehicle when I'm sure they have all the plans for these around in a drawer somewhere.

They have one down at Huntsville, AL.
Talk about feeling like an ant next to that thing - it's freaking HUGE.

(1) - Saturn V engine......

 

[dburkhead]

I can't see undertaking another vehicle like the Saturn V in todays dollars.
The engineers would want to design another vehicle when I'm sure they have all the plans for these around in a drawer somewhere.

They have one down at Huntsville, AL.
Talk about feeling like an ant next to that thing - it's freaking HUGE.

(1) - Saturn V engine......

If anyone working for NASA says they can't develop a vehicle with the capability of the Saturn V for less cost (after adjusting for inflation) than it cost in the 1960's to develop the Saturn V (and the entire Apollo project cost less than $200 billion in today's dollars), then that person should be immediately fired and not allowed anywhere near the aerospace industry.

What man has achieved, man may aspire to.