[TheZookie007]

The Space Shuttle was supposed to be a much cheaper alternative to the standard rockets since it was reusable but it turned out to be a lemon instead. Not until Elon Musk's Falcon series of rockets did we actually get a cheaper reusable rocket.

I would hardly call the Space Shuttle a “lemon” and doing so spits in the face of a ton of dedicated men and women who had to make such a complex piece of machinery work.  The Space Shuttle suffered from trying to be too many things to too many people, unfortunately and with too little money.  I agree that it had severe deficits, though, including no launch escape system and poorly engineered solid rocket boosters, as well as tiles that should have been upgraded to a better system years after they were introduced but never were.  To me, Congress was the lemon for shorting them the proper R&D money.

I agree with you, one thousand per cent. The Space Shuttle was ANYTHING BUT a "lemon". Hugely insulting to the thousands of dedicated engineers from dozens of companies who worked with NASA to bring it to life to refer to it that way.

[Shadowmuse Blown]

The mind boggles at how small the Mercury capsule was.

[TheZookie007]

The mind boggles at how small the Mercury capsule was.

Still bigger than most Manhattan apartments

[TheZookie007]

CNBC, 5 July 2023: "Why Wi-Fi On Airplanes Is So Bad"

The short answer: not enough satellite capacity and not enough carriers have upgraded their equipment. But that is changing rapidly.

[Shadowmuse Blown]

CNBC, 5 July 2023: "Why Wi-Fi On Airplanes Is So Bad"

The short answer: not enough satellite capacity and not enough carriers have upgraded their equipment. But that is changing rapidly.

Is it because of satellite capacity that you figured this had to do with Outer Space?  I guess…

[solvegas]

The mind boggles at how small the Mercury capsule was.

What I also find amazing is the gigantic and huge difference of the Mercury rockets, the Redstone and Atlas 1, and the Apollo Saturn five and it was a difference of just 8 years or so. 

[Shadowmuse Blown]

The mind boggles at how small the Mercury capsule was.

What I also find amazing is the gigantic and huge difference of the Mercury rockets, the Redstone and Atlas 1, and the Apollo Saturn five and it was a difference of just 8 years or so. 

And in that same span of time we went from not having any person in even sun-orbital space to men walking on the Moon.  We need to spend a little more money and get some of that spirit back or the Chinese will have a presence on the Moon before us and won’t let us land.

[Shadowmuse Blown]

SpaceX tests the new water deluge system for Starship.  With this we can hope that Super Heavy won’t blow apart the launch pad next time they launch.

[Shadowmuse Blown]

So, Lockheed Martin was collaborating with a couple of other aerospace firms to create this space station.  But latest word is that LM is out and that Airbus will be the anchor aerospace firm.  This is Europe’s station planned for 2028.  The interior volume is pretty big as the diameter of this thing is, like, 8 meters.  The only thing that could launch this behemoth is Starship, but I believe all other firms are European.  The interior is divided into three floors: habitat, experimental and a centrifuge on the lower level, which will spin to give the equivalent of Mars’ gravity.  I think they are looking to have astronauts shuttled to it via Dreamchaser, the crew-rated version of which should be operational by 2026 and which will be adaptable to the Ariane 6 rocket.

[SamV]

The mind boggles at how small the Mercury capsule was.

What I also find amazing is the gigantic and huge difference of the Mercury rockets, the Redstone and Atlas 1, and the Apollo Saturn five and it was a difference of just 8 years or so. 

The earlier rockets used for the Mercury and Gemini programs had relatively small payloads that were being lifted up in to space to orbit the earth. For the Apollo program the Saturn 5 rocket was need to lift the larger payload for the mission which was to get men to the moon and back. For the upcoming moon missions the Ariemus-1, while not as tall as the Saturn 5, only 322 feet compared to Saturn's 363 feet, it's two sold fuel rocket boosters strapped on the sides of the launch vehicle provide about 75% of the thrust which over all gives Ariemus-1 about 15% more thrust than the Saturn 5, which is need since the payload is now greater.
   
Lifting things out of Earth's gravity and in to space is always a problem. Which is one reason to set up a permanent base on the moon (1/6 the gravity of earth), for future missions both manned and unmanned to other planets. 

[Shadowmuse Blown]

The mind boggles at how small the Mercury capsule was.

What I also find amazing is the gigantic and huge difference of the Mercury rockets, the Redstone and Atlas 1, and the Apollo Saturn five and it was a difference of just 8 years or so. 

The earlier rockets used for the Mercury and Gemini programs had relatively small payloads that were being lifted up in to space to orbit the earth. For the Apollo program the Saturn 5 rocket was need to lift the larger payload for the mission which was to get men to the moon and back. For the upcoming moon missions the Ariemus-1, while not as tall as the Saturn 5, only 322 feet compared to Saturn's 363 feet, it's two sold fuel rocket boosters strapped on the sides of the launch vehicle provide about 75% of the thrust which over all gives Ariemus-1 about 15% more thrust than the Saturn 5, which is need since the payload is now greater.

Is it?  I realize the Orion capsule and command module are bigger and heavier than Apollo, but there’s no Lunar vehicle launched with Orion.  I wonder how much the entire payload was for Apollo/Saturn V vs Artemis SLS

[SamV]

The mind boggles at how small the Mercury capsule was.

What I also find amazing is the gigantic and huge difference of the Mercury rockets, the Redstone and Atlas 1, and the Apollo Saturn five and it was a difference of just 8 years or so. 

The earlier rockets used for the Mercury and Gemini programs had relatively small payloads that were being lifted up in to space to orbit the earth. For the Apollo program the Saturn 5 rocket was need to lift the larger payload for the mission which was to get men to the moon and back. For the upcoming moon missions the Ariemus-1, while not as tall as the Saturn 5, only 322 feet compared to Saturn's 363 feet, it's two sold fuel rocket boosters strapped on the sides of the launch vehicle provide about 75% of the thrust which over all gives Ariemus-1 about 15% more thrust than the Saturn 5, which is need since the payload is now greater.

Is it?  I realize the Orion capsule and command module are bigger and heavier than Apollo, but there’s no Lunar vehicle launched with Orion.  I wonder how much the entire payload was for Apollo/Saturn V vs Artemis SLS

I'm not sure. But you are right the Saturn 5's max payload was 130 tons, while Artemus-1's max payload is about 95 tons. The thing is the Orion capsule is modular in design, and can be outfitted for different missions. Ultimately, it will have to be enhanced in size to take a crew to Mars. But that mission, if all goes as planned, will be launched from a base on the moon. 
     

[Shadowmuse Blown]

Super Heavy static fire. 

One step closer to launch

[SamV]

And in that same span of time we went from not having any person in even sun-orbital space to men walking on the Moon.  We need to spend a little more money and get some of that spirit back or the Chinese will have a presence on the Moon before us and won’t let us land.

Can't happen! Neither China, nor any other nation can lay clam to the moon according to an international agreement that was done I think sometime back in the sixties.

[solvegas]

And in that same span of time we went from not having any person in even sun-orbital space to men walking on the Moon.  We need to spend a little more money and get some of that spirit back or the Chinese will have a presence on the Moon before us and won’t let us land.

Can't happen! Neither China, nor any other nation can lay clam to the moon according to an international agreement that was done I think sometime back in the sixties.

Obviously, you haven't heard what China is doing in the South China Sea, the Sea of Japan and other geographical areas in which they have illegally claimed and don't give a shit about the rulings of the international court and other bodies even though they signed The Law of the Sea Treaty. The Chinese will do whatever they want unless there is strong pushback. They are Communists, therefore pathological liars and aggressors.