/sci/ - Science & Math

>>14682088
Impossible, or at least very expensive. RS-68 uses an ablative nozzle, so the SRBs would melt them. This was an issue with Ares V, which used six RS-68s.
NASA concluded that they could convert the RS-68 to a regenerative nozzle, but this was too expensive and they realized the SSME was just better. Of course, the SSME is 7X the cost of the RS-68 but still
Do note that in the past, there were plans to use SSMEs on proto-SLS vehicles, but to have them be recovered like SMART reuse. Why NASA didn’t do this for SLS is beyond me

An alternative idea is to use a single-core vehicle 10 meters wide without boosters and just RS-68s. This is a neat idea