Re: Congratulations to Lockheed-Martin on winning the Orion program

Jack Tingle <wjtingle@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

On Mon, 04 Sep 2006 05:33:02 GMT, fairwater@xxxxxxxxx (Derek Lyons)
wrote:

"Stephen Horgan" <stephen@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Huh? The Apollo program was ended for reasons having nothing to do with
the Space Shuttle. For one thing, it accomplished its goal ... and
since that goal was to get to the Moon as quickly as possible, there
wasn't much left for the design to do.

My understanding is that there were plans to develop the technology
much further. This would have included a habitat in earth orbit,
full-scale exploration of the moon and missions to Mars.

There were pie-in-the-sky viewgraphs and studies and wistful hopes by
NASA, but nothing that could reasonably be called 'plans'. They
decidedly *weren't* a national priority or policy from the President
or Congress.

And after Apollo 13, they were supposedly viewed as much too risky
with current technology.

Um - no. By the time of Apollo 13, they were already dead or on
advanced life support.

Once the basic objective was achieved, and a little tangible science had been
done, the public lost interest, NASA was worried about another accident, and the
Congress was trying to cut the budget.

Um - no. Congress began trimming the NASA budget (fairly sharply) in
1967 (and continued to do so thereafter until into the 1970's).

None of which excuses the devil's bargain of the shuttle/station
program.

NASA was headed towards some form of shuttle/station (at least as in
interim step towards other things) from pretty much Day One.

D.
--
Touch-twice life. Eat. Drink. Laugh.

-Resolved: To be more temperate in my postings.
Oct 5th, 2004 JDL
.

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