Quote:
Originally Posted by m21sniper
Well the modern Saturn, the Aries won't be ready until 2020, for one, and they've already been working on it for some years.
On top of it, look how long it takes to get military programs from drawing board to deployment. Oft cases, it takes 20 years or more (some over 30)- and these are high priority systems that are far, far less expensive and complex.
Finally, it's government....
I have no doubt whatsoever that it would take at least as long as Apollo took. At least.
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There is a difference between developing new technology and hardware, and simply recreating past hardware based on old technology, especially when you have a exemplar to copy, some of the original data, and even some of the original people, and you know its going to work.
Look at the original program. NASA spent 2 years developing alternative rockets and finally selecting the Saturn V design (1960-1962) then they had to develop the Saturn V design. The first Saturn V flight was in 1967, 5 years later.
In our hypothetical, which is that the USA decides to recreate the Apollo missions with the same urgency and committment as before, you can skip the first 2 years, and you can greatly shorten the next 5 years.
Ares/Constellation is a brand new program being done on a constrained budget with no great sense of urgency.