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Topic: Apollo-Saturn: "Impossible to recreate"
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Tykeanaut Member Posts: 2216 From: Worcestershire, England, UK. Registered: Apr 2008
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posted 11-26-2009 07:43 AM
I have just finished reading "The Man Who Ran the Moon" by Piers Bizony. If I may quote from page 235: After more than 30 years, it's impossible to recreate Apollo's giant Saturn rockets and gantries. All the factory tooling was scrapped, and even the original drawings have been lost. Is this really true? It's like forgetting how to invent the wheel! |
micropooz Member Posts: 1532 From: Washington, DC, USA Registered: Apr 2003
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posted 11-26-2009 08:07 AM
Yup, it's true. Even the tooling for building the Shuttle Orbiter is long gone as well. |
GACspaceguy Member Posts: 2516 From: Guyton, GA Registered: Jan 2006
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posted 11-26-2009 08:10 AM
Very much true. Unlike the wheel the Saturn V and its support equipment is very complex, so the comparison is not valid.Like any complex machine it is more than just the documented engineering drawings and plans that are required to build it. It is also the expertise and nuances of the skilled craft persons to create the machine. That talent base is gone. I believe it would be simpler to create a new vehicle of comparable specifications than to bring a 45 plus year design out of moth balls.
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Robert Pearlman Editor Posts: 43576 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 11-26-2009 08:19 AM
...and even the original drawings have been lost. This is an urban legend: the plans for the Saturn V and related hardware are stored on microfilm/fiche and in some cases, hard copy, in multiple archives, including at the Marshall Space Flight Center. |
Apolloman Member Posts: 152 From: Ledignan, Gard (30), France Registered: Mar 2009
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posted 11-26-2009 09:30 AM
I confirm writes Robert Pearlman: During an exchange of mail with Bill Ayrey (ILC Dover), it had written to me that (in the case of spacesuits) documents (materials used, dimensions) were on microfilm. |
carmelo Member Posts: 1051 From: Messina, Sicilia, Italia Registered: Jun 2004
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posted 11-26-2009 08:55 PM
Recreate Saturn and Apollo is possible, but would be so expensive that is more simple and economic build another rocket and another capsule.But in principle with many, many, many money and many, many, many efforts, yes we can. |
Apollo Redux Member Posts: 346 From: Montreal, Quebec, Canada Registered: Sep 2006
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posted 11-27-2009 04:27 PM
To say it's "impossible to recreate", is to say it's impossible to land men on the moon.The thing is, the scale of economy demands that the next heavy booster be more capable. |
NAAmodel#240 Member Posts: 315 From: Boston, Mass. Registered: Jun 2005
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posted 11-30-2009 08:21 AM
Think of the Saturn V like a Samurai sword. The craftsmanship of the injector plate of the F1 engine is lost like the artistry of folding steel, shaping, and quenching an ancient Japanese weapon. It's not that we won't be able to accomplish what NASA did with the Saturn V. It's just the means to achieve the goal is no longer reproducible. |
carmelo Member Posts: 1051 From: Messina, Sicilia, Italia Registered: Jun 2004
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posted 11-30-2009 10:25 AM
Is obvious that a "new" Saturn V not would exactly the same. But would found solutions for the parts unplayable.At the end would work, but the costs and the efforts be more high that build a new rocket. |