In article ,
James Summers wrote:
downside of this is that not every new widget lends itself to being a
secondary payload, and experimental spacecraft are not common.

Well, in my opinion, this is what NASA's primary mission should be. Not
hauling stuff to a "space station" with a "space truck".

The much-maligned Dan Goldin made some small moves toward fixing this, and
had some success, notably with the New Millennium program (in particular,
Deep Space 1).
--
MOST launched 30 June; first light, 29 July; 5arcsec | Henry Spencer
pointing, 10 Sept; first science, early Oct; all well. |