In THE RETURN, co-written by Barnes and BUZZ Aldrin... a private company decides that those SRB's should be really re-usable instead of being shipped to Utah and rebuilt after every launch.
The space Shuttle Main Engine would be a better engine on the boosters, plus wings and a computer that would guide the booster to an unmanned airplane-type landing on a runway. Take out the old engine to be rebuilt, put in a new one and its ready to be used again within days!
Now, why can't all the nerds in NASA have come up with that? and why haven't they even done some looking into it?
Thats one idea that NASA could have put into place since the book was published.
I still don't understand why they cancelled the crew return vehicle?? It was going according to plan, faster though, and it was WAY under budget.... so they cancelled it.
NASA is not a real space agency... they are a government bureaucracy.