Comments on: Europa Clipper to fly on commercial rocket, not SLS

By: Ray Van Dune

Ray Van Dune — Fri, 12 Feb 2021 02:10:33 +0000

The simple architecture of the SH/SS system lends itself to variation. Imagine a Starship configuration that would function as a “traditional” second stage… on steroids! For payloads to the outer planets, forget the Chomper, just use conventional fairing halves. You know what Elon would say if you say it can’t be done in time?

“Hold my beer…”

By: geoffc

geoffc — Thu, 11 Feb 2021 18:00:04 +0000

To use Super Heavy, would mean launching as a payload inside the upper stage (Starship) and probably needing a fairly large upper stage for leaving LEO.

Would be funny to launch a Delta 4 upper stage inside a Starship but I can’t imagine LH2/LOX inside a Starship s a good mix.

By: Ray Van Dune

Ray Van Dune — Thu, 11 Feb 2021 17:47:41 +0000

Last I heard Falcon Heavy would require a Mars – Earth Gravity Assist (MEGA) maneuver, adding a couple of years to the overall flight. But it was not clear whether a fully-expended boost would require that (that is using all the fuel in all three booster cores for delta-v, rather than recovering any of the cores).

The only booster I can think of that would out-lift Falcon Heavy would be… Super Heavy!! Can it be ready in time?

By: Dean Hurt

Dean Hurt — Thu, 11 Feb 2021 17:00:25 +0000

YAY Falcon Heavy!! NASA has spent decades frittering it’s spaceflight leadership with incompetence and mostly lack of vision and lack of action. They are paralyzed by bureaucratic ennui and an inability to wean from the government teat!