From Ukraine - back to the USSR
I must say that the Zenit launch vehicle was more fortunate in this regard. Yes, the Energia-Buran space program was closed, but we have Zenit, which was the side block of the first stage of the Energia launch vehicle. Therefore, the Energia-Buran program can be reanimated relatively quickly and inexpensively. And it is imperative to restore all this because for 30 years the space design idea in the world has not advanced a single step. Judge for yourself: the "lunar" rocket of von Braun, "Saturn-5", turned out to be a "dead-end dinosaur" of cosmic evolution, the lack of a modular principle of production made it "inflexible" for the range of tasks, we add to this the futility of increasing the carrying capacity and, naturally, its astronomical high cost. True, at that time America did not pay attention to such "trifles". After all, the prestige of the "civilization of the free world" was at stake, and dollars will still be printed.
Nevertheless, it is obvious that a Saturn-type rocket will never be produced anywhere, the “lunar euphoria” has disappeared, and the rocket has also disappeared. An even more terrible joke was made by "modularity" with the Shuttle: in addition to the fact that it turned out to be super-expensive, it also turned out to be super-complicated and therefore unsafe.
On the example of Energia-Buran, this can be explained as follows. Soviet designers initially "separated the flies from the cutlets." The rocket and the shuttle are two separate, self-contained structures. If there was a problem with the Buran, then Energia takes another ship or cargo (not necessarily a shuttle) and flies wherever you want: if you want - to the moon, or if you want - to Mars! After all, everything depends only on the design of the ship and the layout of the modules on the carrier. Let me remind you that the cargo potential of these carriers is practically unlimited. For example, the Vulcan-Hercules assembly is capable of transporting up to 200 tons of cargo into near-earth orbit! Von Braun with his 140 tons nervously smokes on the sidelines. As for the Energia launch vehicle, the principle is the same. If for some reason we do not need such a powerful rocket yet, then its component parts-modules fly into orbit, in this case - the Zenit rocket. Marvelous! You are simply amazed at the ingenious sagacity of the designers of the Soviet school!
As for the Shuttle, the American designers did not include the principle of self-sufficient modularity in it. They, in the truest sense of the word, did not know what to do with this “priceless treasure”. If one fragment of an integral part of the indivisible System fails (I mean the death of 14 astronauts on the Challenger and Columbia), then the entire system is thrown into a landfill. Indeed, the fuel tank with solid-propellant boosters has not learned to fly into space on its own, and it is almost impossible to "screw up" a shuttle to another rocket. Even if (theoretically, of course) this were done, the Shuttle would carry three heavy propulsion engines into orbit and back with dead weight, which it would not be able to use even during landing.
As you know, the shuttle planned to land without being able to go around, which, of course, did not add to the safety of the ship. If we touch on the topic of safety, it is enough to recall one fact: the pilots of the Shuttle, unlike the Buran, did not even have ejection seats.
