The key is to create a program which can fit within NASA's budget. �Ares
broke the budget. �A big HLV is always going to cost a lot to own and
operate because the flight rate is so pitifully low. �The key is to enable
big missions with existing vehicles. �We shouldn't have to keep throwing
away all of our current launch vehicle assets every time a new mission is
proposed. �Saturn V was a dead end. �Shuttle was a dead end. �I believe Ares
I and Ares V would have been yet another dead end. �It's time to stop going
down dead ends.

Jeff
--

Thats why NASA SHOULD of selected at the time of columbias loss using
delta and atlas heavies for launching, using 2 seperate existing
boosters would of meant a booster failure wouldnt ground US manned
space.

Of course NASA wanted to pay off existing shuttle contractors, and
ares was born.

NASA got what it deserved! Pick a bad design, lose that portion of
your agency