Monday, November 18, 2013

Re: SLS / Orion

"Not bad for a couple of programs rolling along on a flat, $3-billion-plus annual budget." 

Yay. Let's put our hands together for program that is on schedule (which is a LONG, LONG schedule) and on budget (which is a HUGE budget). A program that is rolling along with no clear goal. A flat rationale. The fact that it doesn't have a clear goal is somewhat beside the point since we can't afford to launch these beasts anyway, and we won't have any development money for other payloads that would truly ensure a bright future for them until these proud facilities have been rusting on the pad for a few years. Of course the $/kg lift capability of SLS is embarrassing anyway. 

The coming train wreck is designed into SLS and Orion. Don't pass it off as being the fault of ISS. I'm surprised the other obvious option, cancellation of SLS, isn't even touched on here. These are all marvelous facilities and, if completed, SLS and Orion will be technological achievements that we will certainly take pride in. Too bad we won't do anything significant with them. They will be monuments to our technological sophistication and also to poor planning.


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