This reminds me of a video or discussion I once saw (can’t find it now), on why we can’t recreate the Saturn V. We still have all the old blueprints for the rocket; NASA took great care to archive those. But the Saturn V was designed for an entirely different era of engineering and manufacturing. Its parts were all designed for an era of manual machining and welding. It was built using many techniques that are now abandoned or incredibly niche and expensive. The plans simply cannot be practically built in an era of CNC machines, laser cutting, automatic welding, 3D printing, etc. Manufacturing methods affect part design. And designs built for one era’s techniques may not map well those of a new era. We still have the plans for the Saturn V, but we can’t build another one, as the world has simply moved on.
That really is the heart of it. All the skills to make it still exist, in the same way that some artisans still practice making swords by hand. All the skills needed to remake the Saturn V still exist; the knowledge hasn’t been lost. Those techniques just are rare enough that they are specialized and very expensive. The Saturn V was built with the most accessible techniques available in its time, and it still cost a fortune. But now? It’s cheaper to just design a whole new rocket from scratch, designed and optimized for today’s techniques.
This reminds me of a video or discussion I once saw (can’t find it now), on why we can’t recreate the Saturn V. We still have all the old blueprints for the rocket; NASA took great care to archive those. But the Saturn V was designed for an entirely different era of engineering and manufacturing. Its parts were all designed for an era of manual machining and welding. It was built using many techniques that are now abandoned or incredibly niche and expensive. The plans simply cannot be practically built in an era of CNC machines, laser cutting, automatic welding, 3D printing, etc. Manufacturing methods affect part design. And designs built for one era’s techniques may not map well those of a new era. We still have the plans for the Saturn V, but we can’t build another one, as the world has simply moved on.
The economy of scale sure can be a bitch and a half sometimes.
That really is the heart of it. All the skills to make it still exist, in the same way that some artisans still practice making swords by hand. All the skills needed to remake the Saturn V still exist; the knowledge hasn’t been lost. Those techniques just are rare enough that they are specialized and very expensive. The Saturn V was built with the most accessible techniques available in its time, and it still cost a fortune. But now? It’s cheaper to just design a whole new rocket from scratch, designed and optimized for today’s techniques.