Talk:Space Launch System/Archive 1

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2011 Merge proposal

I object merging. The SLS is a different proposal (one of the many Shuttle-Derived Launch Vehicle proposals) - not related to the specific side-mount Shuttle-Derived Heavy Lift Launch Vehicle proposal. Alinor (talk) 06:51, 26 April 2011 (UTC)

Yea, the IP user that tagged the articles did not provide any justification for merging them. Looked like drive by tagging to me.. -Fnlayson (talk) 14:33, 26 April 2011 (UTC)

Agree - no. If no one has any objections, I'm removing the tags. SchuminWeb (Talk) 05:39, 28 April 2011 (UTC)

In this case I suggest removing the merge templates. Alinor (talk) 07:45, 2 May 2011 (UTC)

A Late Objection- A Shuttle-Derived heavy launch vehicle is a Space Launch System. NASA is seeking an alternative Space Launch System to the Ares family; possibly a system like the Jupiter (rocket family) in the DIRECT Shuttle-Derived Launch Vehicle architecture. I don't know the difference between the Jupiter and the Ares V family of Shuttle-Derived Launch Vehicles but I'm sure they are all Space Launch Systems. SEC. 302."SPACE LAUNCH SYSTEM AS FOLLOW-ON LAUNCH VEHICLE TO THE SPACE SHUTTLE." of S.3729 NASA Authorization Act of 2010 doesn’t name a new system it gives NASA the authority to develop a system that can "access lunar space and the regions of space beyond low-Earth..." without saying that system must be the Ares or any other specific launch system. Smgntion (talk) 02:45, 10 July 2011 (UTC)

regardless of how set in stone a new design is, there is no doubt that there is something being developed that's not directly a copy of any of the previous SDLVs and most news articles refer to it as SLS. The SDLV article discusses the many proposals while this focuses on the vehicle being built by NASA TMV943 (talk) 11:48, 10 July 2011 (UTC)

Ares IV

So, I've been doing a casual search on the NASA site and associated agencies, but haven't found much more information on the SLS. However, it sounds very much like the Ares IV concept. Has anyone seen any NASA artwork or good descriptions on how SLS will be configured? TANSTAAFL (talk) 16:27, 19 May 2011 (UTC)

NASA has not decided on a configuration yet. The agency is still studying various Shuttle-derived vehicle configurations. It may be something like a smaller Ares IV or Ares V Lite to follow the NASA authorization act. Look over the article in reference 3 on the main SLS page and maybe others articles on spaceflightnow.com. -Fnlayson (talk) 20:21, 19 May 2011 (UTC)

Well NASA has a general SLS configuration and has put out status reports for Congress in January 2011 and Feb. 2011. I also found some later press releases and documents without SLS details using this google search. The Feb. one shows a general SLS config, btw. -Fnlayson (talk) 12:49, 27 May 2011 (UTC)

Article could use a diagram

Has NASA produced any diagram or other graphic of this vehicle. Article would be improved with a graphic. N2e (talk) 12:18, 23 May 2011 (UTC)

• No design finalized yet ( as per my question above)... it will probably look similar to other shuttle derived launch systems, but alas no exact or even near-guess images yet... TANSTAAFL (talk) 18:13, 24 May 2011 (UTC)

This NASA Feb. 2011 report has a general configuration layout diagram that could be used. -Fnlayson (talk) 12:53, 27 May 2011 (UTC)

Done, see File:NASA SLS ref config Feb 2011.png from page 4 in the linked report above. -Fnlayson (talk) 16:41, 6 June 2011 (UTC)

On the news, DIRECT

Just read at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-14915725 that NASA officially unveiled the SLS. There is an image there that you could use. Wingtipvortex (talk) 15:54, 14 September 2011 (UTC)

The design of the SLS seems to be a direct copy of the DIRECT 3.0 design. Can anyone confirm? If so, can we put a reference?13:11, 15 September 2011 (UTC)

Maybe very similar, but not likely an exact or direct copy. These all fall under Shuttle-Derived Launch Vehicle, so they will look a lot alike... -Fnlayson (talk) 16:29, 15 September 2011 (UTC)

Agreed. DIRECT 3.0 became basically the old National Launch System in the low-Earth-orbit form (with one fewer engine), and added a full 8.4 m modern lightweight-design second stage (and an extra SSME) for beyond-Earth-orbit missions. NASA's current Block 1 design is somewhat like the NLS. Block 1a is very close to some DIRECT beyond-Earth-orbit designs, but uses one extra engine. But, I think Fnlayson is correct in stating that the unifying concept is that they are all shuttle-derived designs. If specific missions arise where multiple launches of similar rockets are used, that would surely represent an emphasis of specific DIRECT ideals. Fotoguzzi (talk) 21:00, 6 October 2011 (UTC)

I am not just referring to the physical appearance but the key attributes of the design. Namely, the plan to reuse the RS-25 and 5 segment solid fuel boosters as well as the inline fuel tanks. This differs significantly from the Ares design and is one of the main features of DIRECT v3 and the SDVs. 12:16, 16 September 2011 (UTC)

I was referring to the vehicle's configuration, not simply external appearance. I don't think further discussion is worthwhile until a reference that goes it to this is found.. -Fnlayson (talk) 14:59, 16 September 2011 (UTC)

Saturn INT-nn

Suggest performance, visual (and fuels) closer to Saturn INT-18 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturn_II_%28rocket%29#Saturn_INT-18 rather than the INT-20?Paulbeeb (talk) 06:48, 16 September 2011 (UTC)

SLS resembles Saturn V in that it is pointy and large. That is about it. These sentences really should be removed or drastically rewritten. It might be fair to note that the paint schemes in the illustrations are meant to be redolent of the Saturn V, but the actual SLS rockets would have the standard orange foam insulation on the cryogenic tanks. Fotoguzzi (talk) 21:05, 6 October 2011 (UTC)

Schedule

I'm torn between keeping and removing this section. The keep side of me says that the first question people coming to the article will have is "when?". The remove part of me says that this is speculative information at best (though it's reasonably referenced) and represents a "worst-case" scenario and could be very misleading as a result. Thoughts?--RadioFan (talk) 14:18, 16 September 2011 (UTC)

Converting the table to a bulleted list or a paragraph with less detail would help, I think. -Fnlayson (talk) 15:33, 16 September 2011 (UTC)

SLS launch cost per pound or kg to LEO

we should make the comparaison table of the 5 scenario until 2025 to see what kind of numbers it will give --Beaucouplusneutre (talk) 07:10, 20 September 2011 (UTC)

i find something between 60 000 and 30 000 per kg to leo from the cheapest to the most expensive options, even with 12 flight, its 3 times more than a commercial rocket.--Beaucouplusneutre (talk) 12:45, 21 October 2011 (UTC)

Shuttle side-mount

does my use of it was sounding innapropriate ? of course it was not built.Spudis original proposal is in between commercial and sls.I will correct the sentence to make it less ambiguous and provide a link to the study.To improve this section maybee we should separate it into 4 paragraph ( political reaction, space advocacy, technical/commercial issues, alternatives, with pro and cons in each sections, maybee into a table format ? --Beaucouplusneutre (talk) 15:35, 4 January 2012 (UTC)

The sentence is talking about current launchers and derivatives of existing ones. Side-Mount was just a concept. Side-Mount is no more relevant than the several Shuttle-based designs NASA has studied over the years. I don't see the point in singling this one out here. That's why Shuttle-Derived Launch Vehicle is linked. -Fnlayson (talk) 15:55, 4 January 2012 (UTC)

I am ok with that.I will find a way to compact the pork barrel cited 3 times into 1 sentence, also citing newt gingrich could be nice (he the only candidate with a space interst), --Beaucouplusneutre (talk) 17:09, 4 January 2012 (UTC)

Please remove Ref 31 from this sentence -- it implies that I advocated EELV and or commercial launch vehicles in my blog post. I did not; I was demonstrating that a feasible heavy lift vehicle was possible with Shuttle side-mount at less cost and sooner than SLS. Spudis (talk) 13:24, 3 February 2012 (UTC)

Propellant depots

any idea where the propellant depot word got lost and the nasa studies of depots vs sls (http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewnews.html? ---and ---http://satellite.tmcnet.com/topics/satellite/articles/230642-did-nasa-hide-in-space-fuel-depots-get.htm) ? --Beaucouplusneutre (talk) 17:09, 4 January 2012 (UTC)

I think the wording may have been changed to 'on-orbit refueling' or something like that. I added 'depot' back in there to match common terminology for it. -Fnlayson (talk) 18:24, 1 March 2012 (UTC)

thank you, a wikilink to Propellant depot could help too--Beaucouplusneutre (talk) 11:57, 3 March 2012 (UTC)

Upper stages

It seems the upper stages are exactly other way around;

The "cps" with RL-10 is the earth departure stage, used for missions that go further than LEO; In this configuration the core of the booster(stage1) goes all the way up to orbit(like when operating without second stage), and the cps is used just as earth departure stage.

The later upper stage with J-2X is for heavier loads to LEO. In this configuration the rocket is heavier, and the core/first stage cannot lift it to orbit, L2 stage lifts it into orbit. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Hkultala (talk • contribs) 21:42, 5 February 2012 (UTC)