On or about Mon, 1 Mar 2004 19:27:09 -0800, rschmitt23
made the sensational claim that:
What improvements? As I mentioned at the start of this thread, there have
been no "improvements" made in spacecraft and launch vehicle technology
during the last 30 years that will produce large reductions in either
development cost or operations costs.

My opinion is still do at least Orbiter Mark II. Start with a design for
which we know what's good, bad, and ugly. Or 30 years from now we'll be
saying what a shame...the Saturn V never really got refined, nor did the
shuttle orbiters. I know about the upgrades program, and how different
the vehicles are now than when they were built, but still, to refine the
design without the restrictions of well, not being able to build one *new*
might be a good idea. For god's sake, Columbia was a freak accident, now all
of a sudden the shuttle is a deathtrap we need to sweep under the rug ASAP?
Bleh.
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