/sci/ - Science & Math

Ok so I did some math and I found that if you take the SLS core and put 3 RS-68s from the Delta IV, and give it a balloon upper stage like a fat Centaur, you can put 41 tons into a Trans Lunar Injection.

Why is this important? It means that we could’ve made SLS without needing those 4 expensive SSMEs and instead used the RS-68s. SSMEs are $240 million for the full set (or were in 2010), while RS-68s would cost $60 million for 3. We could’ve had 2 or 3 or 4 of these vehicles flying per year goddamnit