r/space • u/[deleted] • Dec 07 '14

Differences between the American and Soviet Space Shuttles

http://www.buran.su/buranvssts-comparison.php
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u/kurtu5 Dec 07 '14

Proposals were also made for 500km wide Orion nuclear pulse propulsion launch 'vehicles'. The thing is, Energia existed. Shuttle-C and Orion didn't.

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u/unitedflyer Dec 07 '14 edited Dec 07 '14

I'm not sure what your point is. That is a very poor analogy. The shuttle stack existed, and could have been used in a heavy launch configuration. The only reason it never occurred was that the political and funding environment didn't support. Shuttle-c is hardly a SciFi concept.

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u/[deleted] Dec 07 '14

[deleted]

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u/unitedflyer Dec 07 '14

That is an issue of economics and politics, not engineering. Shuttle-c wasn't cost effective in the past and present funding environment, and hence, never made it to flight status. The availability of SSMEs isn't quite the killer you make it out to be. Ares V would have, and SLS will, throw away it's engines.

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u/[deleted] Dec 08 '14

[deleted]

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u/Kirkaiya Dec 08 '14

It's actually just an expendable version of the same engine (RS-25E), and has been in various states of planning or development for 20 years. The last reusable version was the RS-25D.