Pat Flannery wrote:
Ed Kyle wrote:

R-7 may not have matched the Atlas mass ratio, but it is hard to argue
with its results. R-7 (still the world's busiest launcher) has now
flown
about 1,150 more times than the stage-and-a-half Atlas (retired in
2004)
did!



Yeah, it was a resounding success...but jeeze, those engines are about
1/2 step forward from a V-2's.


Maybe that is why R-7 has been successful. There seems to be a
place for "low-tech" ruggedness. The USAF is still flying B-52s
of the same vintage as the early R-7s, after all (and could keep them
flying for decades more if needed). B-52Hs are still powered by the
same engines that pushed DC-8s and 707s around - engines that
themselves weren't far removed from the J57s that might be
considered the V-2 engines of the jet age.

Another R-7 (Soyuz-FG/Fregat) launched just a few minutes ago
with Europe's answer to GPS, BTW. That makes 1,705 R-7s and
counting!

- Ed Kyle