Yes, the idea is so unique, clever and overall genious that you must have been the first one to come up with anything like that. Sure. It's not like anyone ever though about using Shuttle hardware for other launchers or about a single rocket design for lunar missions before. Out of the question.
Shuttle-C and the like were islands on their own, without any slightly different configuration ever being considered. That must be the case, because that is how engineering works.
*NOT*
Just one snippet:
Quote:
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The ESMD began a series of two 'Analysis of Alternatives" beginning in mid-2004 and extending into the spring of 2005. According to study documents obtained by the authors, these reviews covered 35 cargo launch system configurations in a trade analysis termed "integrated launch systems study". Two separate sets of boosters were studied; those derived from the EELV fleet of Delta IV and Atlas V vehicles, and those configured from shuttle derived elements. A separate study conducted at JSC looked at a heavy lifter derived from Ariane 5 and the Russian Energia, although these were believed to have been looked at mainly for comparison.
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