This Ars story is nearly a year old, but I missed it first time round, and it’s easily the best story I’ve read this year. It has a lot of history of the Saturn V, tied to a modern reverse-engineering of that tech for a next-gen booster. Highly recommended. Nice job Lee Hutchinson
http://arstechnica.com/science/2013/04/how-nasa-brought-the-monstrous-f-1-moon-rocket-back-to-life/
The whole shuttle program IMO is a waste. Not that it was created but how much pork spending was forced into it by congress. The same thing could have been done cheaper and more efficiently. But no, every congressman (and woman) had to meddle and get “something” for their district.