Posted on 07/01/2009 8:15:53 AM PDT by Artemis Webb
WASHINGTON – Like a car salesman pushing a luxury vehicle that the customer no longer can afford, NASA has pulled out of its back pocket a deal for a cheaper ride to the moon.
It won't be as powerful, and its design is a little dated. Think of it as a base-model Ford station wagon instead of a tricked-out Cadillac Escalade.
Officially, the space agency is still on track with a 4-year-old plan to spend $35 billion to build new rockets and return astronauts to the moon in several years. However, a top NASA manager is floating a cut-rate alternative that costs around $6.6 billion.
This cheaper option is not as powerful as NASA's current design with its fancy new rockets, the people-carrying Ares I and cargo-lifting Ares V. But the cut-rate plan would still get to the moon.
The new model calls for flying lunar vehicles on something very familiar-looking — the old space shuttle system with its gigantic orange fuel tank and twin solid-rocket boosters, minus the shuttle itself. There are two new vehicles this rocket would carry — one generic cargo container, the other an Apollo-like capsule for astronaut travel. Those new vehicles could both go to the moon or the international space station.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
This undated artist’s rendering released by NASA shows the Ares I crew launch vehicle during launch and the Ares V cargo launch vehicle on the launch pad. Officially, the space agency is still on track with a 4-year-old plan to spend $35 billion to build new rockets and return astronauts to the moon in several years. However, a top NASA manager is floating a cut-rate alternative that costs around $6.6 billion
Come on down to J.D. Spacerider, where we got deals on used clean rocket ships ... credit is not a problem, everyone rides.
NASA has out lived it’s usefulness.
Like a dog that you love, but is in pain, and dying, it’s time to put NASA down.
I have seen that and not only was it funny and clever as hell but I can’t imagine how much time and effort must have gone into that “documentary”. :)
Shannon said his numbers are rough and could change.
Shannon is trying to save his freakin job. He has nothing to be in charge of once the Shuttle quits flying. As usual the managers will manage to screw things up before they even hit the launch pad
FYI: The shuttle program was “a cheaper return to space plane”. The PASSIVE heat shield and the SOLID boosters being the main “cheapening” compromises. Oh! Guess what caused the two failures! What a coincidence!
Cheap engineering is not good.
Elegant and principled engineering is good.
Rockwell had similar designs as far back as the 1970s of a Shuttle Derived Heavy Lift vehicle.
The biggest problem with many programs is that they are used as pork barrel job creating machines. Any Shuttle derived vehicle will inherit the standing armies of NASA bureaucrats and contractors.
The only cheap way is to buy the ride from the private sector. I believe that Boeing or Lockheed could design and build a fleet that would serve the logistics needs of a Moon Base.
I was at lunch with a retired NASA engineer when Burt Rutan’s rocket plane made its suborbital flight to space. The NASA guy scoffed, “Hell, we did that 40 years ago.” I had to bite my tongue to keep from saying, “But Bert did it for about 5% of what NASA spent on the X-15”.
“Cheap engineering is not good.”
“Elegant and principled engineering is good.”
Guess that eliminates anyone associated with the Obamaloon administration... since they couldn’t even get the cheap part correct - let alone the complicated stuff.
Can’t hack life? Become a politician. Money, fame, and no one will admit that you are far beyond stupid.
The comments are priceless. They’ve inspired me to head out and pick out a couple of boxes of ammo.
Why don’t they just call Ralph Kramden?
Bert had the benefit of many more years of space launch research to work with. It should have cost him much less.
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