If you got an order for ten Saturn Vs tomorrow, how easy would it be to make them?
Maybe lost technology isn't exactly the term, but when a project is completed, people move on and retire, and the supply chain moves on, then the capability to make that technology goes away very quickly. And unless a successor follows on continuously, it can be very difficult to get back to where you were if the need arises.
I have no doubt that the NASA of today could be mobilised to make a better rocket, on cost and timescales comparable to or improved upon the original. But if that is the only way to get back to a Saturn V-like capability, it is fair to say that something has been lost.
Maybe lost technology isn't exactly the term, but when a project is completed, people move on and retire, and the supply chain moves on, then the capability to make that technology goes away very quickly. And unless a successor follows on continuously, it can be very difficult to get back to where you were if the need arises.
I have no doubt that the NASA of today could be mobilised to make a better rocket, on cost and timescales comparable to or improved upon the original. But if that is the only way to get back to a Saturn V-like capability, it is fair to say that something has been lost.