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YAST:Plans For NASA's next vehicle(s)

  • Thread starter Thread starter So
  • Start date Start date
So

So

Lifer
The NY Times has an interesting article that gives a layman's overview of one proposal to replace the shuttle. The Times seems to claim that the matter is decided, but I am unsure....

spaceref.com has their own article.

It seems that NASA has come to the same conclusion that many space buffs and those in the industry already have: a vertical stack is the way to go (at least, assuming you don't have a SSTO - single stage to orbit - system).

Discuss...
 
So...nobody has a REAL opinion on where nasa should go with their next gen vehicle?

Do you people think that this is the way to go, or do you disagree with me?
 
interesting concepts...

Oh, ok, ya I believe it is time to give NASA some more money, remove the politicians out of the equation, and let them do their science. The current shuttle is ancient, which in my opinion, should REQUIRE us to develop new hardware to travel into space. That being said, this looks like a step in the right direction.
 
simple, but i'd like to see that crew design use a reusable lifting body (such as dyna-soar or the klipper) for the crew vehicle eventually. it might not be the cheapest thing now, but it has the benefit of being steerable. the uproar when this capsule lands on someone's house will be defening.
 
There is certain to be a political/public relations problem with any replacement that is not plane shaped after all the false starts by contractors and NASA in that vein.

Even though this may be the fastest/most cost effective solution, they are going to have problems getting it through Congress.
 
Originally posted by: ElFenix
simple, but i'd like to see that crew design use a reusable lifting body (such as dyna-soar or the klipper) for the crew vehicle eventually. it might not be the cheapest thing now, but it has the benefit of being steerable. the uproar when this capsule lands on someone's house will be defening.
Click to expand...


I agree, a dyna-soar type system would be near ideal, but this seems like a good stepping stone. Say we get this in service by a 2010-2012 timeframe? Then we have a functioning cargo vehicle and we can take our time prepping a dyna-soar type vehicle. We might even set the "dyna-soar"'s requitements to fit on top of the exisiting SRB or the new heavy lifter as well. Having multiple options to launch people in existance simultaneously seems like a reasonably good idea.
 
Originally posted by: K1052
There is certain to be a political/public relations problem with any replacement that is not plane shaped after all the false starts by contractors and NASA in that vein.

Even though this may be the fastest/most cost effective solution, they are going to have problems getting it through Congress.
Click to expand...

Well, if they can do it on their current budget, do they really have to worry about congressional approval that much? I mean most congressmen would not need too much convincing to accept this if minimal additional funding is asked for.
 
Originally posted by: So
Originally posted by: K1052
There is certain to be a political/public relations problem with any replacement that is not plane shaped after all the false starts by contractors and NASA in that vein.

Even though this may be the fastest/most cost effective solution, they are going to have problems getting it through Congress.
Click to expand...

Well, if they can do it on their current budget, do they really have to worry about congressional approval that much? I mean most congressmen would not need too much convincing to accept this if minimal additional funding is asked for.
Click to expand...

That is a big "if" when still keeping the shuttle in service, trying to complete the ISS, and going ahead with all the other projects they want to do.
 
Originally posted by: K1052
Originally posted by: So
Originally posted by: K1052
There is certain to be a political/public relations problem with any replacement that is not plane shaped after all the false starts by contractors and NASA in that vein.

Even though this may be the fastest/most cost effective solution, they are going to have problems getting it through Congress.
Click to expand...

Well, if they can do it on their current budget, do they really have to worry about congressional approval that much? I mean most congressmen would not need too much convincing to accept this if minimal additional funding is asked for.
Click to expand...

That is a big "if" when still keeping the shuttle in service, trying to complete the ISS, and going ahead with all the other projects they want to do.
Click to expand...

Well, what that most likely means is that other projects will be drained of funds (and put temporarily on hold) until the 9/30/10 shutdown of the shuttle program.
 
what a bunch of idiots. Back to disposable spaceflight :rolleyes;

What's wrong with developing reusable vehicles that don't cost a BILLION DOLLARS to fly?!
 
Originally posted by: acemcmac
what a bunch of idiots. Back to disposable spaceflight :rolleyes;

What's wrong with developing reusable vehicles that don't cost a BILLION DOLLARS to fly?!
Click to expand...

government contractors have no incentive to lower costs and neither does nasa, really. now, maybe if a private company were willing to develop something (small) and strap it to the top of a delta iii (if one would work) the cost per launch would be greatly reduced

at a billion dollars a shot a space shuttle is $25,000 per lb of payload, which is ridiculous. much of that is because you're carrying so much deadweight (the wings)
 
Originally posted by: acemcmac
what a bunch of idiots. Back to disposable spaceflight :rolleyes;

What's wrong with developing reusable vehicles that don't cost a BILLION DOLLARS to fly?!
Click to expand...

Because that means we need to produce them in huge numbers, and lets face it...that's not about to happen.

Actually, what I'd like to know...how does this proposed system's cargo component compare to the Titan IV launch system, (especially in terms of lifiting capacity) and why doesn't NASA simply start building those instead of developing a whole new vehicle?

It seems to me that the proposed -- improved apollo command capsule + SRB manned component (gotta be fairly inexpensive considering how much infrastructure is there) is a reasonable way to go for the manned portion though. I don't think that the Delta can lift a capsule w/ 6 people into orbit. (the proposal I'd heard was to scale the apollo design up to hold six)...

links:
Titan IV
SRB
Delta IV
 
Originally posted by: Warthog912
interesting concepts...

Oh, ok, ya I believe it is time to give NASA some more money, remove the politicians out of the equation, and let them do their science. The current shuttle is ancient, which in my opinion, should REQUIRE us to develop new hardware to travel into space. That being said, this looks like a step in the right direction.
Click to expand...


If you think the Shuttle is ancient, why do you support a capsule design that is much older than the Shuttle?
 
Originally posted by: 91TTZ
Originally posted by: Warthog912
interesting concepts...

Oh, ok, ya I believe it is time to give NASA some more money, remove the politicians out of the equation, and let them do their science. The current shuttle is ancient, which in my opinion, should REQUIRE us to develop new hardware to travel into space. That being said, this looks like a step in the right direction.
Click to expand...


If you think the Shuttle is ancient, why do you support a capsule design that is much older than the Shuttle?
Click to expand...

Come now. He said 'step in the right direction' -- you're concerned with semantics.

You must admit, part of the reason we've stuck with the shuttle for so long is that nasa has been able to convince itself that the shuttle was acceptable, and it could can any replacements on the drawing board and take it's time.

At this point, we could make significant progress with a new design that leverages advances in materials science and computer assisted design, as wless as the lessons from the shuttle and experiments from the intervening years.

Sticking with an old system because it's "the way of the future" and not choosing a more flexible system that could easily make it easier to progress towards that goal (impetus for SSTO, anyone?), or because "we already did that" is silly.

The fact is, a vertical stack is flexible, and a new return to runway vehicle could be placed atop it once it comes online. For the moment, a capsule is a viable system that could quickly replace the shuttle for manned transit to the space station, and a cheaper alternatice to the shuttle frees up the budget for new vehicle designs.
 
Originally posted by: So
So...nobody has a REAL opinion on where nasa should go with their next gen vehicle?

Do you people think that this is the way to go, or do you disagree with me?
Click to expand...

I just don't care. Space travel is so far removed from our every day lives, it just seems silly to give it so much attention.
 
Originally posted by: Nebor
Originally posted by: So
So...nobody has a REAL opinion on where nasa should go with their next gen vehicle?

Do you people think that this is the way to go, or do you disagree with me?
Click to expand...

I just don't care. Space travel is so far removed from our every day lives, it just seems silly to give it so much attention.
Click to expand...

No worse than religion, politics, outsorucing, or food crisis in africa. It just happens to interest me. 🙂
 
Originally posted by: So
Originally posted by: Nebor
Originally posted by: So
So...nobody has a REAL opinion on where nasa should go with their next gen vehicle?

Do you people think that this is the way to go, or do you disagree with me?
Click to expand...

I just don't care. Space travel is so far removed from our every day lives, it just seems silly to give it so much attention.
Click to expand...

No worse than religion, politics, outsorucing, or food crisis in africa. It just happens to interest me. 🙂
Click to expand...

None of those things concern me.

Mainly I think about what I'm doing later tonight, how many calories I've taken in for the day, when my next oil change is due, and what new gadget I'm going to buy.
 
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