D
DarkenedOne
Guest
The more time goes by the more it seems like the Constellation architecture is dead. It was already greatly over budget and years behind. Now it seems that it stands a good chance of being cancelled all together if not radically modified. I think it is time we start to consider alternatives to it.
http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2009/09/ ... ster-plan/
I was just taking a look at the architecture being proposed by ULA. You can check it out on the link above. Personally I think it is a better architecture for a number of reasons.
First of all it is based on rockets that already exist and have a great flight record. According to them only minor modifications would need to be made to their either of their Ares V and Delta IV rockets. Therefore the massive expense of new rockets is no longer necessary.
Second the architecture is open to private and international cooperation. The Constellation program seem to be just like Apollo. It is based on rockets that NASA develops and operates themselves will little to no outside participation. With the ULA infrastructure it appears that private companies and other government agencies will be able to provide fuel to the depot. Competition will of course drive fuel costs down.
Thirdly new technologies will be developed. Constellation disappointed many people including myself because it was merely a larger version of Apollo. In the ULA architecture new technologies such as fuel depots will be developed.
What do you think?
http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2009/09/ ... ster-plan/
I was just taking a look at the architecture being proposed by ULA. You can check it out on the link above. Personally I think it is a better architecture for a number of reasons.
First of all it is based on rockets that already exist and have a great flight record. According to them only minor modifications would need to be made to their either of their Ares V and Delta IV rockets. Therefore the massive expense of new rockets is no longer necessary.
Second the architecture is open to private and international cooperation. The Constellation program seem to be just like Apollo. It is based on rockets that NASA develops and operates themselves will little to no outside participation. With the ULA infrastructure it appears that private companies and other government agencies will be able to provide fuel to the depot. Competition will of course drive fuel costs down.
Thirdly new technologies will be developed. Constellation disappointed many people including myself because it was merely a larger version of Apollo. In the ULA architecture new technologies such as fuel depots will be developed.
What do you think?