In article , Iain Young wrote:

From the White House fact sheet on the new policy: "The Crew
Exploration Vehicle will also be capable of transporting astronauts
and scientists to the International Space Station after the Shuttle is
retired." I see nothing in the fact sheet about NASA agreeing not to
use CEV for ISS crew rotation or to allow private enterprise to do
anything.

You have a url for that fact sheet edward ?

That quote's in today's press release, FWIW:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/relea...0040114-1.html

[oh, on examination it does say 'fact sheet' at the top...]

There's also a very strange statement about the CEV schedule: "The new
spacecraft, the Crew Exploration Vehicle, will be developed and tested
by 2008 and will conduct its first manned mission no later than 2014."
If the CEV will be developed and tested by 2008, what's it going to be
doing during the six years between 2008 and 2014?

Yeah, I picked that up as well. 2008 is the old date for CRV capability.
Is it possible that Bush ment it would be capable of ISS duty in 2008,
but would have to be able to get to the moon by 2014 ?

Possible interpretation - NASA doesn't want to run two programs at once,
so if STS hasn't been phased out when CEV is ready, CEV will wait?
Flying in 2014 at the latest still keeps the 2015-20 window viable...

Then again, he said manned moon missions by 2020....*shrug* I dunno.

2015 to 2020.

--
-Andrew Gray