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From: jdb@condor.cchem.berkeley.edu (Justin D. Bukowski)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Saturn V and stuff (was Re: stat - where'd it come from?)
Date: 15 Dec 1993 04:29:16 GMT

In article <ab401.755743498@freenet>,
Paul Tomblin <ab401@freenet.carleton.ca> wrote: >1. NASA lost the blueprints for the Saturn V booster. (I always thought this
>was a UL - besides; modern rocket engines are far more efficient. cf. the
>Shuttle engines)

At the risk of introducing a little information to AFU, here's an excerpt from the sci.space FAQ:

Newsgroups: sci.space,sci.answers,news.answers
Subject: Space FAQ 10/13 - Controversial Questions
Date: 1 Dec 1993 23:17:39 -0500
Message-ID: <controversy_754805858@cs.unc.edu>

Archive-name: space/controversy
Last-modified: $Date: 93/12/01 23:08:06 $

CONTROVERSIAL QUESTIONS

These issues periodically come up with much argument and few facts being offered. The summaries below attempt to represent the position on which much of the net community has settled. Please DON'T bring them up again unless there's something truly new to be discussed. The net can't set public policy, that's what your representatives are for.

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE SATURN V PLANS

Despite a widespread belief to the contrary, the Saturn V blueprints have not been lost. They are kept at Marshall Space Flight Center on microfilm.

The problem in re-creating the Saturn V is not finding the drawings, it is finding vendors who can supply mid-1960's vintage hardware (like guidance system components), and the fact that the launch pads and VAB have been converted to Space Shuttle use, so you have no place to launch from.

By the time you redesign to accommodate available hardware and re-modify the launch pads, you may as well have started from scratch with a clean sheet design.