(vthokie) wrote:
[...]
While not a significant portion of NASA's budget compared to the
shuttle and station programs, I think NASA's RLV programs, including
X-37, will be cut. That's really the one part of the plan I disagree
with. I think it would be a shame to abandon RLV development and
focus solely on expendable vehicles.

Well, as often gets posted here, RLV makes sense when you can get a
lot of flights out it with modest maintenance budgets, a la airliners.
(Heck, a la jet fighters would be a big advance).

If you do what Buran did and OSP planned to do, namely put the main
engines on the booster, the major technical hurdle becomes reentry.
For an RLV, winged reentry has advantages. The disadvantages are drag
and weight on launch, and the little trifle of heat management.

I didn't see that the winged OSP designs had any great leaps forward
on heat management, although a different tile system was to be used.

My thinking is that we get DOD to fund the heat management stuff by
having them go off and design NASCM (National Aero-Space Cruise
Missile). Once they have hypersonic cruise dealt with, a mere reentry
ought to be a piece of cake.

/dps