[ZOOKER]

This idea has circulated for decades, that of a reusable first stage.

I first heard of it when the shuttle was in its planning/concept stage.

Boeing offered a winged version of the Saturn V first stage, the booster that lifted the Apollo astronauts to the moon. After carrying the shuttle to LEO, the booster would glide back to earth, land on a runway and be reused.

Guess the numbers didn't work; it was decided the shuttle would have onboard engines, throwaway fuel tank and solid boosters instead.

Speaking of the shuttle, can anyone remember how much it cost to refurbish and reuse it? Wasn't it always cheaper and easier to just throw away boosters instead of trying to reuse them?

[Moonman62]

I think when development costs were included a Shuttle mission was half a billion dollars.