If you got an order for ten Saturn Vs tomorrow, how easy would it be to make them?
Maybe lost technology isn't exactly the term, but when a project is completed, people move on and retire, and the supply chain moves on, then the capability to make that technology goes away very quickly. And unless a successor follows on continuously, it can be very difficult to get back to where you were if the need arises.
I have no doubt that the NASA of today could be mobilised to make a better rocket, on cost and timescales comparable to or improved upon the original. But if that is the only way to get back to a Saturn V-like capability, it is fair to say that something has been lost.
Comments
If you got an order for ten Saturn Vs tomorrow, how easy would it be to make them?
Maybe lost technology isn't exactly the term, but when a project is completed, people move on and retire, and the supply chain moves on, then the capability to make that technology goes away very quickly. And unless a successor follows on continuously, it can be very difficult to get back to where you were if the need arises.
I have no doubt that the NASA of today could be mobilised to make a better rocket, on cost and timescales comparable to or improved upon the original. But if that is the only way to get back to a Saturn V-like capability, it is fair to say that something has been lost.