On 10/13/2018 5:26 PM, Seth Mattinen wrote:
On 10/13/18 13:07, [email protected] wrote:
I guess if you are a very intelligent engineer that does not like
publicity and avoids saying too much to the press you are a poor
specimen? He was reserved, reticent, humble. In real life and in
the movie.
The fact was that Russia was kicking our ass in the race to space.
We came from behind and won through sheer grit, same way we won WW2?
Pretty exceptional if you ask me.
If anything I think Russia was more exceptional in the technical
abilities and engineering in the beginning.
Russia may have been up until their moon program, then they had
significantly more problems with the N1 than the US did with the
Saturn V. The Saturn V has an exceptional launch record, never losing
a payload in spite of a couple engine problems and one vehicle being
stuck by lightning ("sce to aux").
All N1 launch attempts failed in some manner. Some spectacularly, one
earning a spot on the list of largest non-nuclear explosions ever.
(Sidenote: the modified NK-33 engine that failed carrying a payload
for Cygnus was from the N1 program.)
I read that the stored energy in a fully fueled Saturn V was equivalent
to 2 kilotons of TNT. Similar to a tactical nuclear weapon, but they're
releasing the energy over several minutes instead of several
nanoseconds. A moon rocket is a gentle apocalypse. I'm strangely
comforted knowing that this task was difficult for everyone who tried.
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