Re: Here We Go Again!


"Fred J. McCall" <fmccall@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:91oi6357i4elhntggl137n7rd1b8ikavp4@xxxxxxxxxx
Of course, it would have been even more disastrous for the Shuttle if
they hadn't pushed it as a USAF launch system, since without that
money that was budgeted into Shuttle would have gone to USAF to build
their own launcher, instead. That would have left too little money in
the NASA budget to build the thing even with the USAF requirements
removed.

True, but in the long run, that might not have been a bad thing.
Temporarily ending manned spaceflight might have resulted in NASA focusing
on helping private industry develop better, cheaper launch vehicles.
Unfortunately, NASA is still stubbornly holding onto the philosophy that it
must develop its own launch vehicles and maintin their own launch
infrastructure.

I think that the Air Force could have gotten funding for more ELV's if they
had not supported the shuttle (e.g. something like Titan IV and the EELV's).
But they would not have gotten the other capability they wanted, which was
Air Force manned spaceflight. Every prior attempt at Air Force manned
spaceflight failed due to lack of funding and lack of political support for
such funding. Without their support of the shuttle program, there woudn't
have been manned missions with all Air Force crews.

Air Force support for the shuttle program was seen as a win-win for both the
Air Force and NASA. They both got more out of the program than they could
have gotten individually.

Jeff
--
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a
little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor
safety"
- B. Franklin, Bartlett's Familiar Quotations (1919)


.

Relevant Pages

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