Nice forgotten history Alex. The Space Shuttle was born of many political compromises, which greatly influenced its design. It also made the craft larger and more complex than it otherwise would have been.
I think the case can be made that, had NASA and NASA alone designed the Shuttle for their limited requirements, it would have been far more successful.
Political interference is just one of the reasons why SpaceX is proving them all wrong. The current SLS rocket, as I have written, features parts, chosen by Senators in Congress, that NASA tries to stitch together into a workable rocket. The SLS will go down in history as one of the worst investments in NASAs history.
Yes, I totally agree. Had the Shuttle been left to NASA it would have been much more successful. Unfortunately political interference is also crippling SLS.
When I studied engineering we were always told “engineering is about compromises” and that is absolutely true. But you can’t start with political compromises already baked into the design specification, or have them imposed on you part way through the design process.
Nice forgotten history Alex. The Space Shuttle was born of many political compromises, which greatly influenced its design. It also made the craft larger and more complex than it otherwise would have been.
I think the case can be made that, had NASA and NASA alone designed the Shuttle for their limited requirements, it would have been far more successful.
Political interference is just one of the reasons why SpaceX is proving them all wrong. The current SLS rocket, as I have written, features parts, chosen by Senators in Congress, that NASA tries to stitch together into a workable rocket. The SLS will go down in history as one of the worst investments in NASAs history.
Yes, I totally agree. Had the Shuttle been left to NASA it would have been much more successful. Unfortunately political interference is also crippling SLS.
When I studied engineering we were always told “engineering is about compromises” and that is absolutely true. But you can’t start with political compromises already baked into the design specification, or have them imposed on you part way through the design process.