"Fred J. McCall" wrote:

"Paul F. Dietz" wrote:

:Fred J. McCall wrote:
: I remember original Shuttle promises of prices in the range of $100/lb
: to orbit. Then they started compromising.
:
:Even without compromises it wouldn't have reached $100/lb, or anywhere
:close to that. The whole idea was just junk, which is why NASA is not
:being tasked with developing a replacement.

Oh, I don't think it would have, either. That is what was being
promised, though, and it would have come a lot closer if they hadn't
knowingly opted for a design that required huge maintenance and
operating costs in order to try to keep the initial capital costs
down.

It's highly unlikely it would have come down much even with one of the
original designs - which would have shared many of the same
maintenance and operating costs, and would have been even more more
expensive to research, develop, and build.

D.
--
Touch-twice life. Eat. Drink. Laugh.

-Resolved: To be more temperate in my postings.
Oct 5th, 2004 JDL