NASA briefed Congress on Friday and, this morning, held a press conference, which nobody seems to have covered, outlining the administration’s plans to retire the shuttle and put people (formerly men) on the moon around 2018. SpaceRef article here.
Nice find Richard. I remember watching a program that discussed spacecraft design, and the comment that stuck referred to the traditional rocket design as being the best for actually launching into space (superior to the shuttle design). It was more efficent in terms of project maintenance and reuse costs. It would seem NASA is going back to what is easier to design, maintain, reuse, and has a proven history. It also allows them to distance themselves from the shuttle program and it’s current perception as problematic and high risk. It’s certainly a different direction from the attempt to build spacecraft that would allow us to “take off” from the Earth and fly into space and onto our final destination, but I think it’s a step in the right direction by placing emphasis on sending people off planet for the sake of science and development.
So will this make the moon the new Australia? Send a few scientists, get the habitation sorted and then start shipping out all the long-term prisoners off-world. Yet another tried-and-tested ‘formula’ for most ‘civilised’ countries.
I wonder what kind of crime I would have to commit to go? 