CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) -- NASA may replace its troubled
fleet of space shuttles with a new generation of Apollo-type space
capsules, a top space agency official said.

"Certainly we have considerable amount of experience flying with
capsules," Dr. John Rogacki, director of NASA's space transportation
directorate, told Reuters on Wednesday. "One might say on the capsule
side it could be that that design experience may lead to a capsule
being available sooner than a winged vehicle."

Unlike shuttles that land like airplanes, capsules splash down in the
ocean and must be recovered by ships.

The resurrection of space capsules, which last launched three decades
ago, is gaining favor among astronauts, space agency officials and
congressional staffers after the shuttle Columbia disaster that killed
seven astronauts on February 1.

The 13 members of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board were
unanimous in urging NASA to replace the aging shuttles as soon as
possible by using existing technology and materials.

NASA said on Tuesday that the next space shuttle flight, designed to
test repairs that might have saved Columbia, would not make a March
launch target and might not fly until midsummer.

The space agency has spent billions of dollars since the mid-1990s
trying unsuccessfully to design a new winged spacecraft, begging the
question of whether a winged plane could be delivered by 2008 under a
now accelerated timetable.

"Boy, I really don't want to speculate on that because I don't want to
inadvertently or unintentionally signal to our contractors that I
think it is likely or it is not likely," Rogacki said.

Waiting for decades
Corin Segal, an aerospace scientist at the University of Florida,
picked by NASA to design new systems, has estimated that development
of the technology to produce a truly safe, winged reusable spacecraft
could take 15 to 20 years.

Detailed requirements for what has been called an orbital space plane
were issued by NASA this week to three contractor teams who will
propose designs and compete for the work.

For now, NASA is careful to avoid publicly expressing any opinion on
what shape the new craft should take, and to stress that there are
pros and cons to winged and capsule designs.

But NASA spokesman Bob Jacobs said there was no requirement that the
craft be plane-like despite its name.

"We haven't spelled out that it has to glide back to Earth and land
like a plane. That's not a requirement," Jacobs said.

The capsule design gained momentum in March from a study headed by
astronaut John Young, who has flown in both capsules and shuttles.

Young, as well as Michael Kostelnick, head of NASA's human space
flight program, cite the versatility of the capsule, which can move
beyond low Earth orbit to the moon or beyond.

Rogacki said the orbital space plane requirements did not demand the
vehicle be capable of deep space travel but that NASA will be looking
at its ability to support missions beyond the International Space
Station.

"There is a great potential for using the orbital space plane system
as a basis for future exploration vehicles," Rogacki said.

The thermal tiles and wing panels used on the shuttle today could not
withstand the heat and stress of trans-lunar re-entries.



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Apollo-like capsule may replace shuttle