/sci/ - Science & Math

>>14581557
if shuttle lived up to the promises you get a massive space station in the '80s and moonbase/mars in the '90s, but i just don't see any designs on the table that were close to capable of that. flyback s-ic with a j-2 shuttle was probably the best in retrospect but even then 15 launches a year was probably pushing it.

Winged Saturn V…home

I have a weird alt history idea. What if NASA realized they could save some post-Apollo money by making the Saturn V fully or partially reusable instead of building the shuttle?

>Add wings to the first stage S-IC so it can fly back to the launch site
>Stretch the S-II second stage. Add a heatshield on the front. Let the second stage reach orbit then land under parachutes after.
>Remove the S-IVB third stage
>Replace the S-IVB with a 10 METER WIDE capsule with a payload bay and parachutes.
Fully reusable, same payload as the shuttle, doesn’t need new R and D for engines and whatnot. Thoughts?

Pic unrelated, except it shows that NASA considered flying the S-IC back with wings for a while