After Cooper decides he is leaving for the mission, during ascent in the Ranger TARS announces first that he is "beginning roll pro-grade" then goes on to say "prepare for stage 1 separation... Stage 1... there it is, Mach 1." Instead TARS should have announced reaching Mach 1 long before Stage 1 separation. At this point in the ascent by the time the first stage is depleted they would already be going much faster than Mach 1, around 2,300 m/s which is closer to Mach 7. This is possible because as the vehicle gains altitude, air density drops, reducing aerodynamic drag and increasing terminal velocity, allowing the vehicle to go much faster than possible at sea level. The Apollo program utilized its first two stages this way: the first main ascent stage (S-IC) was capable of reaching the edge of the upper atmosphere, but at this point the vehicle would still reenter as it does not have the necessary horizontal velocity to achieve a full orbit. The second stage (S-II) would then be activated to build the horizontal velocity needed to achieve LEO (Low Earth Orbit). Staging is done this way on purpose (using maths) and is very important to save fuel, possibly the most important resource in space besides life support itself. In the movie, the rocket they show used to launch the Ranger is very reminiscent of the first two stages of the Saturn V (Apollo vehicle) with a Ranger attached on top. No operational launch vehicle has ever surpassed the Saturn V in height, weight, total impulse, or payload capability. As this is NASA and not a private space firm doing these missions, it is safe to assume they would re-use effective & proven older designs with slight modifications (payload is now a Ranger) to perform these missions, especially to save on time and development costs. Saturn V and Apollo program details per Wikipedia, knowledge of it per KSP and FAR.
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05/03/2025 alle ore 08:52
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