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Would it be possible to mount 4 boosters on a delta 4(as opposed to 2 on a Delta 4 Heavy) and make a Delta 4 superheavy with a ~42000lb load?
perhaps for use with the CEV?
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Do you mean 42000 lbs to GTO? The delta VI heavy can already do more than that to LEO.
I think that there are diminishing returns with this strategy. IF you have a whole lot of CBCs on the first stage and only a small upper stage, then adding one more will not help much since nearly all of it's thrust will be needed just to keep up with the rest of the vehicle.
Adding graphite epoxy motors (GEMs) or enlarging the second stage might help increase the payload though.
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D'oh!
I mean Kg....
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Delta IV heavy can get 25.8 MT to LEO. I made a rough calculation of the payload capability of the 5 CBC superheavy version (complete with several estimates and fudge factors) and I got about 38.5 MT as its payload to LEO. It should be noted that I was assuming that the same upper stage would be used with the same amount of fuel and payload space.
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Though a 40MT launcher is roughly what Nasa would need to get a crew CEV in one shot and a fueled lunar lander in a second to Lunar orbit, if they were thinking a Moon mission on the cheap. If you launched CEV/LEM with their TLI modules in one shot, you wouldn't have to worry about boiloff and you could use LOX/LH2 to maximize payload.
[i]"The power of accurate observation is often called cynicism by those that do not have it." - George Bernard Shaw[/i]
[i]The glass is at 50% of capacity[/i]
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