"In 1961, an American astronaut reached space for the first time and soared
through the heavens in a gumdrop-shaped capsule.

Since then, people have flown to the moon, created space planes and designed
rockets that return to Earth for precision landings. But when astronauts lift off
next year from U.S. soil for the first time in six years, their vehicle of choice
will be another capsule."

See:

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-f...htmlstory.html




How do the benefits of capsules and spaceplanes compare?