In article , "Brian Gaff" wrote:
The problem of course is that in around four years or so, maybe less,
someone has to decide, what next after iss. In many ways, the albatross of
Shuttle is being replaced by the albatross of IS. You have to start work on
the next step, or abandon the idea completely.

exactly by the time the private sector shuttle replacement is ready to
fly, the ISS will have to be kept going simply to provide somewhere for it
to fly to.

the next step has to be beyond LEO, whether you thought Ares was the right
vehicle or not for that, the Vision for space exploration for all its
faults, at least recognised that we arent gaining much from the current
ISS setup (that we are now locked in for the next decade or more) and we
had to accept going beyond the boundary to drive new technology and
innovation forward.

robbie