Re: The End Of The Stick?

In article <oAPXh.3778$Ut6.3207@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
Craig Fink <WeBeGood@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Fearless prediction: NASA will propose Yet Another brand new booster,
something other than Ares V, to launch Orion. NASA has not yet been
slapped around enough to think of hiring Atlas Heavy and Delta Heavy and
Falcon 9 (note: "and", not "or"!) for simple delivery jobs.

Or, even more unthinkable, buy a ride on Ariane V. :-D

lol, that's _"and"_ Ariane V, unthinkable for NASA, not for Bigelow
Aerospace. ;-)

You know, maybe NASA's being more clever than we give them credit for.
Maybe their secret plan is to mess around so long with brand new
boosters, overweight capsules, standing armies, and so on, that well
before they have the ability to fly again, commercial astronauts will be
going to orbit routinely. It will then be so painfully obvious that
buying rides is so much cheaper than building their own launchers, that
not even the standing armies of congressional constituents will be able
to keep NASA's custom launcher program alive. Finally freed from the
congressional mandate to employ thousands upon thousands of rocket
builders, NASA will then be able to actually accomplish something
worthwhile.

Sounds crazy, I know... but it's the only explanation I can think of for
the apparent insanity of their launcher development program. And who
knows, it just might work.

Best,
- Joe
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Ares vs DIRECT
    ... "Ares III" and the general public will hardly notice. ... DIRECT is not a concept that originated outside of NASA. ... straightforward evolution of one of the concepts studied in NASA's ESAS ... created by reducing the launcher costs. ...
    (sci.space.policy)
  • Re: DIRECT launcher article in AIAA Houston Horizons
    ... line configuration launcher was *always* a logical derivative of the ... STS, although funding was never available to do much with the concept. ... Following the 1986 loss of Challenger, NASA MSFC led a push to create ... Team Vision also came up with the exact same concept completely ...
    (sci.space.policy)
  • Re: Is Crew Launch Vehicle Too Big?
    ... A cluster of such engines, ... >cheaper than the big single-engine NASA alternatives. ... >does not exist for an SRB-Stick launcher. ... There was no special S-IVB processing facility and there is no ...
    (sci.space.policy)
  • Re: The End Of The Stick?
    ... NASA has not yet been ... to keep NASA's custom launcher program alive. ... the apparent insanity of their launcher development program. ...
    (sci.space.policy)
  • Re: How did NASA get it so wrong
    ... >> EELVs, to orbit the mass, just like von Braun's ... >> like NASA did in 1962. ... ESAS is a two-launch EOR/LOR mission, ... A 100t launcher would take years longer ...
    (sci.space.policy)