I'm an engineer working for NASA - I've been working on SLS since the President cancelled Constellation - of course, we didn't call it SLS at the time...
That's so cool!! Not that Constellation got cancelled, that you work for NASA, I mean. That was my childhood dream. Anyway ...
I see that Isaac has answered many of your questions, but I'll take a crack at some of them:
DannyMac: "Our Rockets are holding steady? What up with that?"
Unfortunately, some technology can't really be improved that much. The rocket equation is well-known, and the physics are such that we're getting just about everything we can from the fuels we have available. It'll take a huge leap in technology (Space Elevator, maybe) to improve on it.
Do you think the space elevator is the next big thing then? Where do we go from here if we can't improve rockets much?
Isaac:
MJ/kg isn't really as important as ISP for determining which is the best rocket fuel, which is why RP-1 can be competitive, especially when you want to keep operation costs down. (Something I wish NASA would pay more attention to)
What's ISP?
Insert theme music here.
NASA unveils new spaceflight rocket
14/09/2011 07:50:09 PM
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I wanted to be happy but I have to say I am a little sad.
14/09/2011 08:48:53 PM
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I have to agree
14/09/2011 10:05:08 PM
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It does say in the article ...
14/09/2011 10:20:19 PM
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We don't use petroleum in most rockets and never have used them much
14/09/2011 10:53:14 PM
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Hi Guys!
15/09/2011 01:44:13 AM
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do you really believe a space elevator is doable with current materials?
15/09/2011 05:45:01 AM
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