Pat Flannery wrote:
Proponent wrote:
Is it possible that with the booster engines attached all the way to
orbit, the vehicle could fly a somewhat more efficient trajectory,
therefore boosting the payload a bit? On the other hand, the booster
engines might have to be shut down anyway in order to keep the
acceleration from damaging the structure.

I assume they carefully worked out to the second when the boosters
became a net deficit to the ascent, and jettisoned them at that point.

No doubt you are correct that the separation of the booster half-stage
was timed to optimize the performance of the actual stage-and-a-half
vehicle. And we agree that performance would have suffered
substantially under the constraint that the booster half-stage not be
dropped. I'm just pointing out that re-optimizing the flight program
under the no-staging constraint would probably result in performance
slightly better than flying the without staging under original stage-
and-a-half program.