Yeah, that floored me the first time I heard it. I thought they were just recycling the *design* of a lot of components. Come to find a lot of bits headed to the moon today actually flew on space shuttle missions.
That’s awesome to see some of the shuttles parts are still being used. The orbiters are one of my favorite vehicles ever made.
ethicalhumanbeing on
Why doesn’t the SLS main stage use Methane fuel instead of hydrogen?
It seams everywhere I look people say methane is a better fuel because it has energy density, it’s cheaper, allows for smaller tanks and cheaper engines. Why isn’t SLS using it then, being a newly designed rocket for the foreseeable future?
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Yeah, that floored me the first time I heard it. I thought they were just recycling the *design* of a lot of components. Come to find a lot of bits headed to the moon today actually flew on space shuttle missions.
One part flew on STS-5 in 1982!
https://x.com/i/status/2018356268965281872
Acronyms, initialisms, abbreviations, contractions, and other phrases which expand to something larger, that I’ve seen in this thread:
|Fewer Letters|More Letters|
|——-|———|—|
|[F1](/r/Space/comments/1s9okbx/stub/odtiefd “Last usage”)|Rocketdyne-developed rocket engine used for Saturn V|
| |SpaceX Falcon 1 (obsolete small-lift vehicle)|
|[Isp](/r/Space/comments/1s9okbx/stub/odu1831 “Last usage”)|Specific impulse (as explained by [Scott Manley](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnisTeYLLgs) on YouTube)|
| |Internet Service Provider|
|[SLS](/r/Space/comments/1s9okbx/stub/odunhyw “Last usage”)|Space Launch System heavy-lift|
|[SSME](/r/Space/comments/1s9okbx/stub/odumhl0 “Last usage”)|[Space Shuttle Main Engine](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle_main_engine)|
|[STS](/r/Space/comments/1s9okbx/stub/odu67e3 “Last usage”)|Space Transportation System (*Shuttle*)|
|Jargon|Definition|
|——-|———|—|
|[Raptor](/r/Space/comments/1s9okbx/stub/odumhl0 “Last usage”)|[Methane-fueled rocket engine](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raptor_(rocket_engine_family)) under development by SpaceX|
Decronym is now also available on Lemmy! Requests for support and new installations should be directed to the Contact address below.
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^(6 acronyms in this thread; )[^(the most compressed thread commented on today)](/r/Space/comments/1s9qfc7)^( has 38 acronyms.)
^([Thread #12304 for this sub, first seen 2nd Apr 2026, 03:09])
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That’s awesome to see some of the shuttles parts are still being used. The orbiters are one of my favorite vehicles ever made.
Why doesn’t the SLS main stage use Methane fuel instead of hydrogen?
It seams everywhere I look people say methane is a better fuel because it has energy density, it’s cheaper, allows for smaller tanks and cheaper engines. Why isn’t SLS using it then, being a newly designed rocket for the foreseeable future?