There would really be no point in reinventing the wheel if the old one
rolled well enough.
There are some things that can be used as before I suppose, which makes me
wonder if perhaps some kind of shuttle with detachable crew cabin might be
an idea.

Brian

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Blind user, so no pictures please!
"Pat Flannery" wrote in message
dakotatelephone...
On 5/6/2010 8:38 AM, Damon Hill wrote:
In a cloud of flame and smoke, the test capsule vaulted off
the ground faster than the camera could apparently track. I'd
call it a neck-snapping success and glad I wasn't riding!
All the flight events appeared to execute accurately, leading
to a controlled thump-down at White Sands Test Range.

Where it all goes from here is anyone's guess...

Video of the test up on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgH-Lj8Ae8M
The orange exhaust smoke is very similar to the stuff that would come out
of the Apollo LES.
The parachutes worked right on this test.

Pat