Quick question... where is ATK going to get shuttle RSRM casings for the first stage of Liberty?? As I understand it, all the existing shuttle casings are slated to be used on SLS test flights, and allowed to impact and sink in the Atlantic rather than be recovered. Once the SLS test flight program is completed, a NEW booster is supposed to be competed out, either a Liquid Rocket Booster by Aerojet or whomever, or a new high-pressure, filament overwound steel lined casing SRB by ATK... or whatever by whomever else wants to put something in the competition... at any rate, the existing shuttle casings haven't been manufactured for years as I understand it and with the existing cases to be expended on the bottom of the ocean on each SLS test flight, what exactly is Liberty going to use for a first stage SRM casing?? I take it that ATK intends to recover said casings for reuse, just as was planned for the Ares I SRM first stage, and has been done for the shuttle SRB's... has ATK solved the recovery problems that caused the chutes on Ares I-X to fail and the four segment shuttle booster with the weighted dummy segment used for the fifth segment of the first stage of Ares I-X to be bent beyond repair to the extent that the SRB casing had to be scrapped??
Also, I'd be VERY interested in knowing how exactly ATK intends to mate a groundstarted core stage on top of their five segment SRM first stage in an airlit series staged configuration, rather than the groundlit core stage configuration it was designed to be used for in Ariane 5. How exactly does the Ariane 5 core stage, with less propellant capacity than the Ares I upper stage, and powered by the Vulcain, with less thrust than the J-2X, make up the performance shortfalls that were plaguing Ares I?? This is a miracle in itself!
Also, the composite capsule is very interesting... I take it NASA was considering switching from an aluminum/lithium alloy pressure vessel for Orion MPCV to an all-composite pressure vessel Orion MPCV at some point, and ATK constructed this test pressure vessel... so where are all the onboard systems, propulsion, communications, avionics, navigation, life support, etc. coming from?? Are these to be all-new ATK developed systems of their own design or provided by subcontractors, or purchased from other contractors based on the Orion MPCV systems designs... or the same systems presumably used by Boeing in their CST-100 commercial capsule??
Have agreements been signed to support the launches of ATK's Liberty vehicle at KSC?? Seems I heard that the Ares I MLP which was constructed awhile back and was, for a time, slated for demolition IIRC, has since been retasked and is being modified to support SLS... would such modifications make it unsuited to support the Liberty vehicle?? Liberty, like Ares I and its shuttle predecessor, will require a great deal of integration and stacking work and support at KSC and it would seem that agreements to that end would be necessary before substantial work on the vehicle was completed...
Later! OL JR
