Plotting A New Course for NASA

On Nov 24, 4:56*am, David Spain wrote:
On 11/24/2011 2:00 AM, Matt Wiser wrote:

"David *wrote in message
I don't think SLS gives us that cheaper access to LEO that is the stated
goal
of CCDev. And maybe re-using KSC assets won't either, but who can say?

Dave

David, SLS isn't for LEO: it's for BEO missions.

None of which have been defined. Something vague about visiting NEO objects.
Using what tho? An Orion derivative that isn't even under proposal?

Orion is big, Orion is heavy, Orion today duplicates what Dragon does for for a lot more $$$.

We don't need SLS for heavy lift if we stick to the COTS course. So let's leverage that instead of trying to duplicate what that
accomplishes for a lot more $$$ in operations. But we need to know if reusing KSC assests with COTS/CCDev saves money or wastes money.

The NX proposal give us something to spend $$$ on that not only supplements the money being spent on COTS/CCDev but also give us a
BEO technology other than a very expensive to operate HLV. In other words lets spend the money in order to maximize return on
investment. I don't see SLS as that. But I'm open-minded, I could change my mind if you can give me convincing numbers.

Dave

The numbers are still very preliminary-not to mention that contracts
haven't been finalized. And David, I hate to rain on your parade, but
there's only ONE congresscritter pushing the EELV/Depot concept: Rep.
Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA). His motives aren't pu there's several
commercial space outfits in SoCal, and if he doesn't have facilities
from those companies in his district, he's got constitutents who work
at those companies. Which is the same approach that congresscritters
from Utah, Alabama, Louisiana, Texas, and Florida have when they
pushed for and got SLS. They didn't want the Administration to wait up
to 5 years before deciding on a heavy-lifter: which, btw, Augustine
strongly hinted at was a good thing to have; they wanted it NOW. If
Rohrabacher was Chair of the House Sci/Tech Committee, he'd be in a
position to push his ideas to NASA, but he's not. Rep. Ralph Hall (R-
TX) is the chair, and he's staunchly pushing JSC's interests, even
though he's not from Houston. And the push for SLS was bipartisan, if
you'll recall.