In article ,
Brian Thorn wrote:
And keep in mind... a capsule is going to be lighter for the same
capabilities, as it doesn't have all those dead weight wings etc.

Instead, it will have to have a honkin' big parachute/airfoil which
had better deploy just right.

Capsule designs routinely provide redundancy in parachutes. (Try doing
that with wings. :-))

Even then, you might still need a retro
rocket to make landing bearable for the crew.

Not if you use a gliding parachute with a flare maneuver, or simply make
the capsule big enough for a decent shock-absorber stroke.

And how big a capsule can they fit on top of a Delta or Atlas before
they start getting into aerodynamic problems that make wings look
easy?

Rather bigger than the winged vehicle which can go up on the same launcher
without incurring much worse aerodynamic problems.
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