Saturn-V for Dummies Part-5: Conclusion
A conclusion is simply the place where you get tired of thinking
~
Dan Chaon, Stay Awake
Hello
all, Happy Basant Panchami, and welcome to the final blog of this series, where I will try to answer some
frequently asked questions about the mighty Saturn-V and the moon missions in
general. The previous 4 articles were about the history, engineering,
engines, and missions of the rocket (highly recommended going
through them, please give them a read). I tried to cover the rocket from every
possible angle in all four with a generalized approach. But today I shall be
concluding this series, but is it the end? Watch me answer this question and
more as you read and scroll.
Conclusion:
Or is it the end?
Let’s
start with the questions:
Q: What happened to the Saturn-V?
 |
| Apollo module docking with the Skylab |
A: Saturn-V has not flown since May 14, 1973, as it
retired after the last Skylab mission which I covered in detail in the "Missions"
blog. Make sure to check it out for more information.
Q: Why did the Saturn-V retire?
A: There are several valid reasons for the US govt
and NASA to retire the Saturn-V rocket. Some of them are; cost. It cost around
a 47billion USD in 10 years for 13 launches, which boils down to around 3.6
billion USD per launch, and from this figure, if you subtract the developmental
cost, it will cost merely 1.2 billion USD per launch. Another reason is pay
cut. The govt. decided to restrict the budget of NASA which resulted in
stopping further production of the rocket and the rest got distributed among space
museums for display and study for the common people. NASA with the restricted
budget shifted its focus to the Space Shuttle Program.
Q: Was moon landing fake?
A: There has been a particular school of people who
believe the moon landing was a fake act under the direction of NASA. Now look,
normally I am not an advocate of violence but I believe these conspiracy
theorists should be packed inside a mental asylum and beaten. These conspiracy
theorists state several reasons and excuses for their belief, which are insane and baseless.
If you need to prove it fake, then you need to prove that the whole world was
lying about the moon landing as every space-faring country recorded the moon
landing and had it confirmed. It’s utter disrespect to all those scientists,
engineers, and several other people who made the moon mission possible. The
straight answer is NO, the moon landing was NOT FAKE.
Q: Why haven’t humans returned to the moon since
1972?
 |
| China's Long March 9 |
A: This specific question can be divided into 2
separate questions; first, why hasn’t any American returned to the moon? And
second, why hasn’t there been any other country to launch humans to the moon?
The simple and generalized answer to both the questions is money and power. In
the 1960s and 70s the cold war was going on, only 2 nations had such massive
capital and engineering know-how to pull out this massive task of landing humans
on the moon. So, this became a war whose outcome was crystal clear as Sir Neil
Armstrong set his first foot on the moon. With the collapse of the Soviet
Union, the US had no one to fight with and compete against, which led to a cut
in NASA budget. But today, NASA is determined to land the first man of color
and the first woman on the moon by 2023 with their massive SLS rocket. Talking
about other countries, very few countries have a space research program, out of
which if we deduct the US, Russia, and the EU, we are left with China which has a similar space budget as that of the States and they
have plans for a manned moon flight with their super-heavy launch vehicle.
So, although it has been a disappointment not to have watched the moon landing
on TV back then, today, we are living in the best days of the space era and
will soon watch humans land on the moon.
Q: Why is NASA using SLS for the Artemis program instead
of Saturn-V which has been already tried and tested several times?
 |
| The SLS rocket with Orion Space Craft |
A: Saturn-V is a marvel not because it was built in
recent times, but because it was built back in the 1960s, whose technology is no
match with today’s technology. Today one can 3d print rocket engines completely
and even companies like Relativity are 3d printing entire rockets from top to
bottom within days. But still, with those outdated methods, they achieved the impossible
feat. Manufacturing a Saturn-V now will be costly first of all and the
technology is obsolete now. The present SLS costs roughly one-eighth of what
Saturn-V used to cost (500 million USD). Apart from that, we are living in an era of reusability
and cost reduction, where SpaceX’s rocket-boosters can self-land, be refurbished,
and reused again. Even the SLS feels obsolete against such rockets. So, it
makes sense to make a better and cheaper rocket to land humans on the moon rather
than building a whole new Saturn-V.
Q: Is it the end?
A:
NO, Saturn-V’s legacy continues. No matter where you live or what your identity
is, whether American or non-American, white or black or colored, male or female
you need to feel proud that humanity has persevered and reached the moon only within
seven decades after inventing the first flying machine. The dreams you think are
impossible to achieve now, just remember that landing on the moon used to be a
dream too but the dream saw the daylight with the help of sweat, tears, and
blood of the innumerable.
I
chose to explain the Saturn-V rocket because it teaches us that nothing is
impossible and everything is achievable if we truly persevere for it. The
legacy of this rocket inspires me more than any human that walked on earth. I
won’t stop talking about the rocket. Though the future articles will focus on
other topics, still there will be subtle references to the rocket. There’s more
rocketry stuff pouring in with time, stay tuned. Once the next article is out,
the link will be available here.
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To know the basics of the quantum world, astronomy and space exploration you can check out the book "Through the wormhole" on amazon kindle by Ratnadeep Das Choudhury.
Thanks for Reading!!!
-Ayushman Dash
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