Bush's space plan

> From: George Perkins [mailto:george@...]

> If it goes through, NASA's budget is increased 5% which isn't much
> of an increase but it's something but will it be enough to pay for
> it all? Mars, I imagine, will be especially expensive.

It depends how it's done.

If they don't do it the NASA way (and try and reinvent the wheel every five minutes) then it could be done affordably over a decade or two. A reusable OTV would be a good start. The technology could proove itself boosting stillites into non-LEO orbits and returning them for fixing when they go wrong or for refueling. In such a system all you'd need to launch a relatively small amount of rocket-fuel rather than the weight and complexity of a whole-stage. That should have savings. Being able to extend life and recovering 'stillborn' satillites, such a system might even be able to cover the cost of it's own development.

And wouldn't that be a nice change?

The OTV could be used to send cargo and men to the moon. Since the OTV would already be subsidising it's costs (at minimum) and the manned-module *should* be ISS/Mir based module, costs should again be rather low. If it proves reasonable to mine ice on the Moon, the OTV could take it back to LEO. By the time we get to MArs, the OTV should be mature technology, and the Mars modules can be Moon-based. Since both have been in use for some time cost could be kept below astronomical.

Of course if Dubya has his way it'll be (disposable?) nuclear-thermal rockets all the way. And won't that be fun, easy and cheap, boys and girls?

ANTIcarrot.