NASA’s new “exploration architecture”

Spaceflight Now | Breaking News | NASA formally unveils lunar exploration architecture

For years I’ve wondered why NASA didn’t have a separate cargo launch capability. Especially for the Apollo missions, it just seems to me like it would have been easier to launch the lander and booster rockets first, then launch the crew module and have them link up in orbit. It seems doing things this way would have let them use smaller rockets (instead of the Saturn V).

At any rate I’m glad to see that NASA is intending to go this route. I think taking the “simple but works” route for designing the spacecraft is the right move. The shuttle is nice and all, but it has shown itself to be very expensive and delicate.

Speaking of which I’m curious to see how the reuse of shuttle technologies goes. While I think the Solid Rocket Boosters (SRBs) are a pretty solid design, I’m wondering about the decision to reuse the Shuttle Main Engines (SME). I haven’t done any research on this, but I seem to recall that the reason a lot of the launches in the past have been scrubbed was due to glitches in the SMEs (or their associated turbopumps, etc.).

Also I’m curious about the flight dynamics of the new setup using the SRB as its main booster. I recall those generate a ton of thrust, and they can’t be throttled (i.e. once it starts, there is no stopping it, you have to let it burn out). Remember, those SRBs were designed to be used in pairs to help move a very heavy shuttle and its fuel tank off the ground and get them to supersonic speeds. Using just one SRB with a greatly reduced in weight spacecraft could lead to a very wild ride.

I imagine if the simulations show that they are too powerful (causing too many G’s on the crew) they can take out a segment or two to alter their flight profile.

Overall I’m hoping that this is a return of the NASA of old, when solid, simple engineering and a desire to explore and learn where the guiding principals.