Re: Russia's Clipper

> > That's no DC-3. And I don't think it's pessimistic either, based on
> > what I've seen so far about Kliper's capabilities.


Perhaps. But if Kliper can act as a 6 person taxi and escape pod and to
a space station, it would be a major advance in how much it costs to
keep people in space since a single vehicle could now support 6 instead
of 3 crewmembers.

If the technology to build a truly reusable vehicle isn't quite there
yet, Kliper is still a step to improve the situation.


Apollo was like a steam locomotive. Shuttle is like diesel, and so will
Kliper. At the time diesel locomotives came out and replaced steam
engines, did they just give up improving diesel ones because they
figured that until the technology existed to build TGVs it was pointless
to operate trains ?

I think politicians have watched too much star-trek and expect NASA to
be able to build the Enterprise today and are dispointed that the
Shuttle is so far behind their ideal vehicle. So they call NASA
"incompetant" and force it to return to the steam engine. They should
have tasked NASA to develop a next generation space shuttle, just like
car manufacturers improve their designs every year.


Once you have the basic technologies for a good ship, you can use it to
make mini shuttles without cargo capacity as well as bigger shuttles
with a cargo compartment. Materials, systems and engines are what
really count and what is missing today. (like a truly reusable heat shield).
.

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