I have been sitting here reading the news releases regarding the Shuttle program and the changes you have planned for our Space Program, and I just have to ask: were you not paying attention?<\/p>\n
Burt Rutan and Scaled Composites were able to produce, launch and successfully recover a vehicle to LEO for a very mere fraction<\/em> of the cost of a traditional Shuttle flight last October, and here you are going back to the Apollo configuration of a capsule at the tip of a rocket. What gives?<\/p>\n SpaceShipOne would require merely some scaling-up to handle the Shuttle’s current role, and in fact Scaled Composites has plans already laid for such a vehicle designed to be able to dock with the ISS. Why are you not bringing them into this project?<\/p>\n Currently, the Shuttle is utilised for launching payloads into space, personnel transfers to the ISS, and a microgravity test lab. In my opinion, we should leave the heavy lifting to unmanned rockets for larger satellites – a proven technology. The ISS was designed to take over the Shuttle’s microgravity labs, and we should allow it to do so. <\/p>\n Scaled Composites’ Tier Two program, however, is specifically designed to handle the personnel transfer duties to the ISS and should be used – the cost savings over the current Shuttle program would be significant, allowing us to do more for our NASA tax dollars.<\/p>\n Wake up, people.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"