The Next Shuttle

[g_sat]

What would be the technological hurdles faced by US aerospace engineers in designing and building a tail launched "Space Shuttle" like manned vehicle smaller and lighter than the shuttle and totaly reusable, that utilizes the "Cargo Bay" area for internal fuel tanks and crew quarters. <br /><br />I ask because I believe we should use shuttle<br /> vehicles to get us to LEO and back and use CEV's from LEO out. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[gunsandrockets]

There is already a discusstion of this going on under Missions & Launches "If there was a Shuttle version 2..."<br /><br />http://uplink.space.com/showthreaded.php?Cat=&Board=missions&Number=230090&Search=true&Forum=All_Forums&Words=shuttle%20x-15&Match=And&Searchpage=0&Limit=25&Old=1week&Main=229257