I grew up with the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs.
60 years later and we’re still using rockets.
Sigh.
Rockets have to carry two or three as much oxygen by weight as fuel, when it’s freely available in the atmosphere. NASA should be spending its money on SCRAMJET research until we have a space plane that can at least match the cost per kilogram of cargo to orbit. It has the potential to far exceed that of rockets.
“60 years later and we’re still using rockets”
What do you suggest?