[KevinDavis]

I was thinking why can’t we modify the Delta to send Astronauts to the Space Station or send them to the moon??

[KevinDavis]

The Kepler spacecraft is ready for its Friday night flight into space. Liftoff is just 90 minutes away.

"We've had a great day today. The spacecraft been powered on since early this morning. And all systems are 'go' at this point," says John Troeltzsch, the program manager from Ball Aerospace.

[NormsRevenge]

Payloads would be smaller but cost would be as well

[No Truce With Kings]

“I was thinking why can’t we modify the Delta to send Astronauts to the Space Station or send them to the moon??”

Delta II? Not enough throw weight. It can only get around 13,000 pounds to LEO. That’s about the weight of just the Apollo command module.

A Delta IV Heavy could launch an Orion to the Space Station. It can loft 51,000 pounds to LEO. It even has a 5 meter payload shroud. (Orion is 5 meters.) But it is a new vehicle, despite the name.