I’m kind of amazed at all the adoration in the replies. I think it’s a butt-ugly thing, myself, separately from my opinion about what a waste of money it is.

[Saturday-afternoon update]

Thoughts from Eric Berger.

[Bumped]

[Update a while later]

This comment from Lee Hutchinson is interesting:

I volunteer as a docent at Space Center Houston and spend most of my time giving tours of the Saturn V on display there. There are a huge variety of questions that get asked by folks as they walk through the exhibit, but there’s one that comes up very consistently, whether the guest is from the US or from Europe or Asia or anywhere else: “How did something this big land after it was used?!”

When I explain that the Saturn Vs (and most rockets, in fact!) are single-use items and are destroyed as they’re used, people are gobsmacked.

It’s hard to overestimate the effect SpaceX’s launch-n-return routine has had on the general public’s perception of space travel. The default assumption by like 95% of folks who I interact with the Saturn V exhibit is that rocketry has always been reusable, and that it’s the only sane way to get to space. After all, how the hell could anyone think spending billions of dollars on these magnificent machines and then throwing them away after a single use is a good idea?

For all of SLS’ majesty and capability, it’s going to be a pretty significant PR challenge for NASA to explain its way out from under that one. SpaceX and reusability dominate the public’s mindshare.

It’s hard to see how SLS ultimately survives the advent of Starship.