NASA Shuttle-derived Sidemount Heavy Launch Vehicle Concept

Forgive me I am an amateur space nut. I like this concept for temporary space access and for early moon shots. My only problem I don't like is one the lunar rendezvous( I think it should be done in LEO so the crew have access to lunar lander in the event Orion fails (remember Apollo 13). I still there still need to be research on a next generation launch vehicles for permanent moon bases and mars exploration (ie. ares or jupiter).

Just mount the disposable SSMEs on the bottom of the ET (Energya-style).

You forget about the cost per launch and cost per kilograms og cargo. Both areas where Ares-1 runs supreme and will earn it's own development cost in tenfold in about 10 lauches

The thing is that it's more expensive to convert a EELV like the ATLAS V or DELTA IV to a CLV (Crew Lift Vehicle) than it is to start from scratch with the Ares I.

All you have to do to an EELV is man-rate it to put Orion on it. But imo from my uneducated mind I don't think an EELV could really do the job to put an EDS/LM into orbit. Thats why DIRECT or SDLV-HLV is a viable and feasible option. Ares I has a problem with TO, could kill the crew. Wondering if I-X got any data off it, although I doubt it.

I believe one mystery is how the second stage tumbled after seperation.

I thought that was just because it was a dummy stage, but I'm not so sure.

It was as you said because it was a dummy stage. Normally a second or third stage would have some small rockets arranged in a ring around the interstage that would keep the speed up and clear the next stage of the previous.

So it would cost more than the $14 billion it will take to develope Ares 1 to man rate Delta IV or Atlas V?

I don't get it. How does that work?
With Ares 1, you have to make an engine and liquid stage from scratch, as well as remake the existing booster.

With an EELV, you use what's already made.

It's the conversion and man-rating of the EELV's that will take a lot of the cost. Then there is the cost per launch where as I said before the Ares-I will beat the converted EELV's.
And also I'd say it would be safer to purely develop a manned rocket than man-rate an EELV.

Nice Structure!!! ^^