NASA mulls restoring Saturn V to service as SLS delays and costs mount
- Reference: 1585721708
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2020/04/01/nasa_mulls_restoring_saturn_v/
- Source link:
"Achieving the President's goal is our number one priority," said an anonymous agency insider, "and with the continuing delays in the SLS program, we've decided that the only way to meet, or even beat that goal is by looking to our heritage."
The abrupt cancellation of the Apollo program meant that there were several major components left over, including Saturn V rocket stages and Lunar Modules, some of which were in relatively flight-ready state at the time. Certainly when compared to the SLS.
"The plan," the insider told us, "is to take the Saturn V at Kennedy [Space Center] and launch that from the launch platform we've had sitting around for SLS.
"The engineers have already performed the adaptations necessary, and we're confident that we could launch in the coming weeks rather than the years needed for SLS."
NASA famously never throws anything away (apart from the Shuttle program), and The Register understands that Apollo era platforms have been reinstalled in the cavernous Vehicle Assembly Building at the Kennedy Space Center for the purpose of stacking the Saturn V vertically ahead of its historic roll out to the launch pad 39 complex nearly 50 years since the rocket last flew.
The Lunar Module planned for Apollo 15, LM 9, is to be retrieved from display at the space center. We understand that while it has not been possible to restore the original module simulators to prepare astronauts for future use of the capsule, modern virtual reality technology has proven useful.
Modern technology has also been fitted to both the Saturn and the module in the form of relatively recent Arm-powered equipment. Our source remarked: "People were always saying that there was more power in a phone than the Apollo era computers, so we shoved a bunch of iPhone 8s into the spacecraft for redundancy. It saved enough weight for us to load some Trump Golfing merchandise onto the spacecraft in lieu of actual science."
When asked why an 8, the source responded: "NASA isn't made of money," and rolled their eyes when we suggested an Android device might be a more economical alternative.
As for mission training and trajectory planning, our source told us: "We discovered something called the 'Kerbal Space Program' – the team installed it three weeks ago and we assume they've been in simulations ever since. Someone sent out for pizza and soda the other day."
A press conference is expected later today when the crew will be announced for the impending mission. Our source told us that there was every chance that NASA might re-fly astronaut Jim Lovell to mark the anniversary of the Apollo 13 mission and quash rumours that '13 and the rest of the program was actually a hoax. ®
[1] https://www.theregister.co.uk/2020/03/11/nasa_space_launch_system_audit/
Re: Looking at the state of SLS....
If only it wasn't April the first.
Re: Looking at the state of SLS....
Only if those Saturn V parts come with a certificate of authenticity.
Sensible idea
Perhaps we can send Trump up to open his first space hotel?
Re: Sensible idea
Trump wouldn't go. There are no golf courses yet.
But if there were, some of the sand traps would be awesome!
Re: Sensible idea
I used to have a little game which had you play golf of various solar system moons using a reasonable calculation of the 2d gravity. Iapetus was always an interesting challenge. And yes, hitting it too hard could result in escape velocity.
There are no golf courses yet.
Not true. Astronauts already played golf there, and it's full of holes large enough to allow even Trump to hit a eagle every time. And his bone spurs won't be a big issues in low gravity...
Re: Sensible idea
The moon has been a golf course for nearly fifty years, and as you say the bunkers are awesome.
See https://www.forbes.com/sites/kionasmith/2019/02/06/astronaut-alan-shepards-out-of-this-world-round-of-golf-on-the-moon/
Re: Sensible idea
Of course there's golf on the moon. He can try to beat Alan Shepard's drive.
Re: Sensible idea
https://futurama.fandom.com/wiki/Leo_Wong%27s_%22Miniature%22_Golf_Course
A great episode.
Re: Sensible idea
I'd pay to watch that. And take bets on the launcher going bang on the launch pad.
Re: Sensible idea
A 50 year old one that has sat around in all weathers going bang yes, but a new build does strike me as a low risk solution to get big lumps to LEO. (not so much the tiny tin can to the moon)
Even with the story appearing today :)
Re: Sensible idea
With a service module cryo-tank coil a la Apollo 13?
"Housten, we have a solution..."
Re: Sensible idea
Golf in a space station ( micro gravity, roughly 1 bar air pressure) or on the moon (1/6 G, roughly zero air pressure)... Either way, the properties of the club and balls would have to be modified ( eg, lighter club, heavier ball, softer ball) if the golfer isn't going to walk miles between shots. See: Robin Hood F.R.S. by Arthur C Clarke, in which moon colonists modify archery equipment to be suitable for an airless environment.
They just refurbished the mission control room...
... in all its sixties glory, including ashtrays, so it make sense, perfectly!
Re: They just refurbished the mission control room...
I've enjoyed the TV show For All Mankind, which is an alternate history in which a Soviet cosmonaut is the first human on the moon and thus the USA is spurred on to more ambitious space missions. There's an authentic amount of smoking in the NASA control room, something I was surprised to see so much criticism of in reviews of the show. Whilst I appreciate that the subject matter lends itself towards family viewing, my generation was brought up to be wary of airbrushing history, just as we are about book burning.
Logical
It's the only logical decision. As we, however, know, logic and politics don't mix. Ah well....
I'd have believed it
if they were planning on reserving the capsule for the bestest Golfer
to sad it is only an april fool's trick. It would had put some pressure on the SLS to get their act together and to finally finish sthe project
And a very happy April 1st to you too.
Ah. April 1st.
Happy April 1st! Nice one! Beers for everyone.
Nice as it would be to see a Saturn V lift off again, I sense a little of the 1st April in the story... Sad face...
I only realized when the article mentioned Kerbal Space Program, that this is an April Fool's article.
We live in strange times, when actual reality (TM) is riddled with absurdity, it becomes harder and harder to distinguish an April Fool's article from actual news.
My sympathies go out to all the comedians out there, you are having tough times.
Almost believed it
The first few paragraphs were very convincing but as I got further down the April fool starting becoming more apparent. The KBS comment finally clicked.
If only it was April 1st
I actually believed it for a moment ...
... until I got to the second half of the article.
Funny enough, re-vamping the Saturn-V has been discussed several times. The big problem (and they are BIG) are the main engines; each one had to be basically be hand-made and hand-tuned, and unfortunately all of that highly specialised knowledge is now gone. Shame really since the Saturn-V was really something to see launch, and it never suffered a failure!
Lets raise a glass to the NASA engineers of the Apollo program!
Re: I actually believed it for a moment ...
> and they are BIG
"You may think it is a long way around to the chemist, but that's just peanuts to a Saturn V."
They are really really BIG! Until you want next to one you have no idea.
> The big problem
Also significant parts of the engineering drawings have been lost as well. So a re-start of the program would be a redesign pretty much from the ground up. The only advantage over the original program would be that it was known to work from the start.
But the biggest issue would be the kind of risks that were taken in the Apollo program are simply not accepted today.
Blast
About half way through I thought, hangon April the 1st :(
Glad to see...
that you mark the date in the customary manner, even in these difficult times
Not exclusive
Stephen Baxter beat you to it...
Fantastic news!
After
planned
re-introduction
into
lunar
Flight
orbit,
old
launch
system:
out of this world!
Thank you
For a small piece of normality and levity in this currently rather uncertain world. It's great to be reminded that life can carry on. Bravo!
I blame a lack of coffee
for the number of sentences it took me to realise the date.
Poisson d’Avril
Where's my paper fish?
I know its April 1st, but *please* don't go giving Trump any more ideas.....
Mind you, golfing would be pretty cool on the moon.
Well done.
Blimey! Is it that time already?
Happy April everybody
Checks calendar.....
....that is all.
But I'd love it to be true!
Lol
Weeks, NASA can't plan a meeting in weeks. That was the giveaway.
Checks date
Although as others say it might well make sense to go down this road -tried and tested tech!
Checks todays date....
….ah.
;-)
I wish, seeing that thundering into the blue yonder would cheer me right up...
Nicely done El Reg :-)
Absolutely
Quick spray with WD-40, swap the electrolytics (re-cap) and good to go.
N1 el Reg, i
This is an April fool right? Lol
lmao
Love it AF
It'll be fine
Providing they don't use any Boing software for upgrading the iPhones.
Brilliant
Why did I not think of that?....
Maybe the RAF could get all those wasted Spitfires out of the museums as well! Much cheaper than these new fangled VTOL jet thingys.
Anyone checked today's date??
Looking at the state of SLS....
... this actually would make sense. Shame, really ;)