🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <ewright.726265944@convex.convex.com> ewright@convex.com (Edward V. Wright) writes:

>>We could fly Soyuz on an Atlas or Titan. 

>Why?  If we're buying Soyuz spacecraft from the Russians, 
>it would make a lot more sense to buy the boosters also
>and skip the integration problem.

Because I want the US to form a spacefaring civilization. Making some use
of foreign technology so we can get out from under a dead end system seems
a great idea to me.

>>We could build a small station with room and power equal to Shuttle. We 
>>could dock the two and get far more work done for far less money. 

>Who is "we?"  If you mean NASA, I don't think so.

Agreed. I was thinking of SSI's ISF. That way the taxpayers aren't
stuck if it fails and the builders will have a real incentive to actually
do the job.

>However, we haven't man-rated the Atlas or Titan since the 60's.  

No need. Man rating doesn't add anything to the safety of the
launcher. All it does is add costs and I see no point in doing it.

>The current assembly lines for those vehicles are pretty much
>booked already.

Not so. Both have plenty of un-used capacity.

  Allen

-- 
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Allen W. Sherzer | "A great man is one who does nothing but leaves        |
|  aws@iti.org     |  nothing undone"                                       |
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