Free Republic

A small groundswell is rising in Congress for a faster start on the heavy-lift launch vehicle President Barack Obama says he wants, but it may be swamped by the backwash from growing irritation over NASA’s sluggish production of justification for its “game-changing” new approach. A bipartisan gang of 62 House members wants Obama to initiate “the immediate development and production of a heavy-lift launch vehicle that, in conjunction with the Orion crew exploration vehicle, may be used for either lunar or deep-space exploration.” Their June 22 letter to Obama, circulated by Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.), follows word from Sen. Bill...

Boeing claims it is closer than ever to launching the long-awaited BC-17 commercial derivative of its C-17 strategic transport, but says the growing gap in guaranteed production beyond delivery of the final contracted aircraft in 2009 makes this, and any further potential study derivatives, increasingly expensive to develop. “We have several customers with money that have given us requests for proposals,” says C-17 vice president and programme manager Dave Bowman, who adds: “I’ve never received RFPs before.” Although the company declines to identify the interested groups, Bowman says “this is the closest we’ve ever been to launching this programme, and...

NASA is considering dropping the Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME) from its heavy-lift launch vehicle plans and using the cheaper-to-manufacture RS-68 engine instead. Daniel Dumbacher, deputy director of the Exploration Launch Office at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala., told reporters following his presentation at the Goddard Memorial Symposium here March 14 that a formal trade study is under way to examine the cost, schedule and performance merits of the SSME and RS-68. At present those two engines are NASA’s first choice for the main stage engines that would power the planned heavy-lift cargo launcher NASA intends to build...

Monday, October 3, 2005 NASA Propulsion Strategy Reaches Back While Looking Ahead By Brian Berger Space News Staff Writer The initial propulsion work in support of NASA's bid to return to the Moon and go on to Mars will focus primarily on adapting space shuttle systems and developing methane-fueled engines, a technology with which the United States has little experience. The space shuttle main engine and solid rocket boosters are the basis for two new launchers NASA intends to develop, one for lofting an astronaut-carrying capsule known as the Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV), and a heavy lifter for Moon-bound cargo...

Last Chapter Opens For Space Shuttle Born Of Compromise By Brian Berger, Space News, August 15, 2005 Space Shuttle Discovery’s return-to-flight mission marks the beginning of the end for a program whose design evolution exemplifies the pitfalls NASA is seeking to avoid as it embarks on a new direction in space exploration. Thirty-five years ago, when NASA was struggling to make the case for a new space transportation system, it promised to build a reusable vehicle that would haul all of the nation’s civil, military and even commercial satellites into orbit and eventually help construct a space station. The melding...

Delta 4-Heavy rocket poised for debut today America's new heavy-lifting rocket takes its much-anticipated test flight today. Boeing's inaugural Delta 4-Heavy rocket is scheduled to make its thunderous departure from Cape Canaveral's pad 37B at 2:31 p.m. EST (1931 GMT) while riding 1.9-million pounds of fiery thrust generated by its three hydrogen-fueled engines.