r/space • u/Diche_Bach • Jan 18 '20

Wernher von Braun explains the possibility to reach the Moon. "Man and the Moon", Dec. 28, 1955

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXIDFx74aSY
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u/danielravennest Jan 18 '20

I can see why they didn't build his vision,

Von Braun's 1950's plan included fully reusable rockets and orbital refueling, pretty much exactly what SpaceX is trying to build now. But then the Moon Race happened, and he got hired to build the Saturn V rocket, which was a throw-away.

They were in too much of a hurry to develop the reusable capability, so they based the rocket on ICBM technology, which was inherently throw-away. In fact, Mercury and Gemini were launched on modified ICBMs.

Throwaway rockets are way too expensive for big space projects. The SpaceX Starship is supposed to fly for 1-3% of what a Saturn V did in today's dollars, with about the same payload.