How is it possible that NASA lost its technology from the Apollo Program irretrievably?
How is it possible that NASA lost its technology from the Apollo Program irretrievably?
The Saturn V rocket project has been lost. Also, no new rocket can be built based on Saturn V.
I'm starting to wonder if those crazy people who postulate that we have never been to the moon, maybe they are right?
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answers:
Raymond say: You do understand that we have "lost" the technology to produce Galleons and Barquentines (big sailing ship). Sure, if we really had to, we could build one, but almost by hand, since the tools and factories that were used to build those are all gone.
Same thing happened with the Saturn V rockets. Many of the plants that participated in the construction have been closed for some time or are now used for totally unrelated things. Others have continued to build rockets, but were re-tooled to make parts for the shuttle instead. With the present installations, they would not be able to build parts for a Saturn V.
The technology is still retrievable, but it would probably cost more than simply continuing the evolution of space ships: build a newer model that uses newer material, newer tools, newer engines, newer technology...
Sure, we could spend a ton of money to re-start building barquentines but, other than me and a few other cruty seafarers, who would care?
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nineteenthly say: It entirely makes sense. If you wanted to get the parts to fix a VCR nowadays you would have enormous trouble sourcing them, and the situation is similar with Apollo, except that a lot of that stuff wouldn't even have been off the shelf. Also, it was built with the aid of years of experience by people who are now dead or retired, and nothing happened to follow it up or build on it.
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quantumclaustrophobe say: In much the same way that Ford lots it's technology in producing the Model T...
They haven't *lost* anything - but the tooling, the assembly plants, heck - even several of the companies that built the Saturn V no longer exist.
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Ronald 7 say: Moon Hoaxers are Idiots of the highest order
The Apollo Programme cost $250 Million and 7 years to accomplish with the same amount of Man Hours
it was the most expernamental undertaking by man ever
And it laid the foundations for future space exploration
Voyager and New Horizons owe their existence to it
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ANDRE L say: Well, your premise is wrong.
You fail to grasp that manned space programs are very expensive. At it's peak, NASA got 4.41% of the *whole US Federal budget*. That was back in Fiscal Year 1966, when the highest development costs were being incurred.
Today, there are better designs to use. The Dragon 2 spacecraft, which will be flown with a crew this summer, is currently on it's way to the ISS as we speak.
The last three planned Apollo missions were cancelled, for a lack of money on NASA's end. NASA, being a Federal agency, can only spend what Congress gives them, and Congress is who decides what that money given to NASA gets spent on.
So, from that high of 4.41% of the total Federal budget, the last time NASA even got 1% was in 1992. These days, it gets LESS than a HALF of one percent.
Now, as to the 1960s hardware. Yes, the people who designed and built it all are at least all retired and most are dead. And, the technology has changed enough that you wouldn't want to copy an Apollo Command & Service Module or a Saturn V, because they're obsolete.
You might as well ask why the US Navy doesn't ask for armored battleships anymore, or why no shipyard today could build one.
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Alexander say: Nothing has been "lost." The technology has just become outdated. NASA chose to devote its resources to much less costly unmanned missions and let private industry pursue more innovative approaches to manned missions.
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William say: No, not the technology. But it is true that it would be difficult or impossible to replicate an Apollo mission Saturn V and its components. The reason is simple- thousands upon thiusands of contractors contributed to the components, and many of the people, the companies and their designs have been lost. Apollo was an extremely complex program which tapped into thousands upon thousands of industries and technologies all across the USA. It was a triumph of American ingenuity, industry and technology.
This does not mean a new and better Manned lunar Mission program cannot be done- the technology was relatively crude compared to 21st century standards. It could be done better, more efficiently... one thing that mathematicians love to point out is the fact a simple 1980s calculator, even a wrist watch, had much more computing power than all the Apollo computers combined.
It is analogous to asking if a WW1 battleship could be replicated. Yes it could, but not precisely, even if you wanted to use retrograde technology and industry, by why would you want to?
A better version could be done if the commitment were there. But it would depend on new and current industry and technology.
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Gray Bold say: Never did. Falcon Heavy is a partially reusable heavy-lift launch vehicle designed and manufactured by SpaceX. It is derived from the Falcon 9 vehicle and consists of a strengthened Falcon 9 first stage as a central core with two additional first stages as strap-on boosters. Falcon Heavy has the highest payload capacity of any currently operational launch vehicle, and the fourth-highest capacity of any rocket ever built, trailing the American Saturn V and the Soviet Energia and N1. SpaceX conducted Falcon Heavy's maiden launch on February 6, 2018, at 3:45 p.m. EST (20:45 UTC).
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Nyx say: They didn't 'lose' it. They lost the funding to continue.
In the meantime...
https://www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems...
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D g say: it COSTS MONEY to go to the MOON you idiot .. they didnt loose the ability ..
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Will say: In exactly the same manner that Ford lost the "technology" to build a Model T.
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PhotonX say: No plans were lost. If I decided I want to start manufacturing 1965 Ford Mustangs again, could I just walk onto the factory floor and have them knock one out for me? Of course not. What might they tell me? I imagine it would be something like "Sorry, but the body stamping dies for that car were recycled decades ago. And nobody is making the particular aluminum alloy we need for the Canuter valves anymore." It's not a question of having the technology, the necessary manufacturing base is long gone, and the expense of retooling to build fifty-year-old rockets would cost more than designing new modern ones from scratch. Why would we want to spend a billion dollars per launch when young companies such as SpaceX can do it for a fraction of the cost?
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john say: we never went to the moon.
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Jim say: It is not possible.
At worst, some things might have to be reinvented. The blueprints are most likely in storage.
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Iridflare say: The technology wasn't lost, and the design documentation still exists. BUT the Apollo project was carried out against the clock, and converting the manufactured components into working systems often required them to be "tweaked". The engineering teams documented those tweaks in ad hoc ways, and it's that documentation and expert local knowledge that's been lost.
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abby say: they don't make 4 bit computers anymore .
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Choose a bloody best answer. It's not hard. say: There's a word in my part of the world for people such as yourself, who are incredibly ignorant and think they're incredibly clever.
Three Saturn V vehicles still exist, two of them comprising parts of different vehicles but nevertheless almost complete.
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CarolOklaNola say: NASA did not build the Saturn 5 rockets . The blue prints have NOT been lost. What is now outdated is the technology and instruments and tools and machines that were used to build the Saturn 5 rockets..It would e like you trying to build a 1995 IBM or Sun work station to do what you now do on your tablet or cell phone. You probably were not alive in 1995.
IF ALL the manned Apollo Moon missions were hoaxes, why haven't the Soviets or Russians exposed the hoaxes in 50 YEARS? The Soviets and thousands of ham radio operators triangulated the radio and TV signals as coming from the Moon.
HOW can 400,000 people who worked at. NASA and the contra ted businesses and the over a million tertiary witnesses like ME by live TV keep a conspiracy alive for more than 5O YEARS when 5 people could not keep the Watergate conspiracy silent for 4 years? I was 16 years old in July 1969. I turn 66 year old TODAY.
YOU are a willfully ignorant and possibly delusional fool.
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Dixon say: I don't know what you mean by "lost" but it is certainly the case that however well things are documented and recorded, there is no replacing the experience, judgement and body of detailed knowledge that is held in the collective minds of a whole team. Once that team is broken up it is next to impossible for a new team to later pick up the work, they are better to start in their own way and build up it all anew.
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Robert J say: It's not "lost", it's just a system that costs too much to be practical.
The Apollo missions cost ludicrous amounts at the time and proportionally now they would be many billions each!
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