CEV - Orion

> From: Xenophile
> As I read about these spacecraft, I don't see them doing anything that
> Apollo didn't do forty and more years ago. The command module seems
> to have a small degree of reusability, but it's LESS than Shuttle, not
> MORE. What is going on?

One possible explanation...

The government doesn't think it (EG: NASA) can solve getting into space
cheaply; because they think politics will always get in the way. They
probably also think that private industry *can* do so. Since private
industry seems to finally be doing this (Virgin Galactic etc) all they need
is a simple reliable design which they knows will work. Then in a couple of
decades they can retire it and buy something that works.

In the meantime Aries I will provide a replacement for the shuttle that
isn't a complete death-trap. That means they can stop buying Russian Soyuz
launches, which is rather embarrassing for a nation that believes that the
sun shines out of its own technological backside. They also get the HLLV
Aries V - which will in one launch be able to provide a replacement for the
ISS the day it becomes obsolete, which should be one day after completion.

The public also likes the idea of going to mars. And industry likes the idea
of a $60B cost+ programme.

John