[af_vet_rr]

Ideally we'd be using some kind of true shuttle, similar to what you are talking - which, had not Vietnam sucked up so much money, the Air Force would have been flying in the 1970s, as they were building the infrastructure and the pool of qualified pilots to do so. This would be something geared towards small cargo runs and moving people back and forth.

We'd also be using the Saturn program (just think of where it would be with the advances in materials, propellants, computer, and propulsion today if we hadn't dropped it in favor of the Shuttle).

As to why we go to space, once upon a time we were a nation of pioneers and explorers. These days we appear to have become a nation of settlers.

[nuke rocketeer]

McNamara cancelled DynaSoar before we were spending much in Vietnam (1963) for several reasons, the prime one being he did not see much use for a military manned space program. NASA was already committed to Apollo and had no funding to pursue a parallel path with DS. But if they had, a DS launched by a Saturn 1B, would have been an excellent shuttle alternative instead of the kludge we ended up with.