On Mon, 19 Sep 2005 23:58:52 +0200, "Rene Altena"
wrote:


I wonder why it would take until 2018 to get somebody up there.

Because for the next five years, the lion's share of the NASA manned
spaceflight budget is going to Shuttle and Station, and for five years
after that, a smaller, but still large chunk goes to Station alone.
Only after 2015 do we get out of the Shuttle/Station funding black
hole.

Brian