In 1993 Boeing designed a modular heavy lift launch vehicle for a range of space launch missions. The core vehicle was based on Shuttle External Tank components, with a multitude of SSME’s at the rear (in two recoverable pods). Shown here are some basic launchers built from these components, being used to launch parts for a lunar mission into Earth orbit. The Shuttle is shown with the solid rocket boosters replaced with the new core vehicles.
From sometime around 1963, a few photos of wind tunnel models at NASA-Langley. Shown are a range of Dyna Soar models, from pre-Dyna Soar “HYWARDS” concepts to the initial Boeing 844 design to the final Boeing Model 2050E configuration.
NASA artwork of the Saturn V, from 1963. It’s close to what actually got built, but the practiced eye can spot some important differences.
The status of SLS configurations, circa April, 2012. Note the combination of manned and unmanned variants, Shuttle-derived solid rocket boosters and all-new liquid rocket boosters.
Some ca. 2011 NASA artwork depicting the hoped-for for flight of the Exploration Flight test (EFT-1) in 2014, showing the Orion capsule and its service module attached to a Delta IV upper stage. The EFT-1 mission will be unmanned, and tossed up to 3,600 miles for two orbits.
NASA rendering of the Space Launch System Block 2 concept.
NASA rendering of the Block 1 Space Launch System concept.
A chart from a NASA briefing from May of this year giving a quick look at three planned configurations of the Space Launch System which some/many in NASA hope to get built and flown in the coming years.
When transitioning from the Block 1 to Block 1A configurations, the plan is to replace the Shuttle-derived five segment solid rocket boosters with all-new advanced boosters, either liquid or solid. But history has shown that if what you’ve got *now* more or less works, replacing it with an expensive new rocket is a somewhat politically dubious prospect.
A pretty simplistic schematic diagram of a possible Nova launch vehicle, circa 1961, very similar to the “Chemical Nova.”
A photo of a NASA Nova design, in rather crude display model form.
