Pods to the Asteroids

Have we discussed the plan championed by Landau and Strange? I'm catching
up with my print reading, and when I saw their article in the Dec 2011
Scientific American, I thought it was strange that I didn't recognize it as
an SSP topic.

Their plan involves a capsule ride to a deep-space ion-drive ship, used in
a kind of powered-shuttler scheme, and to support EV tasks with pods.
Test flight would be to an orbit above the lunar south pole to control a
fleet of robotic explorers.

"Focusing on an easier mission could stunt exploration by setting a dead
end for technological capability. Conversely, striving for a harder
mission could perpetually delay any meaningful exploration by setting
targets too far out of reach. Our desgin baseline falls between these
extremes. It is a one-year round-trip that launches in 2034, with 30 days
spent exploring asteroid 2008 EV5."
(pg 62)

What's the reaction of SSP to the 3 principles they use: flexibility, not
having to newly invent everything, and to design a program that can
maintain forward momentum even if one component runs into problems or
delays.

/dps