14 May
2010
14 May
'10
7 p.m.
On May 14, 2010, at 8:53 PM, Eric Smith wrote:
I agree... seems like Delta IV would be a perfectly suitable replacement if they can man
rate it. Given its track record it seems likely. One of the reasons detractors use against
Delta IV vs. a NASA alternative is the crew escape/safety systems. Yeah, right... like the
Shuttle ever had a remotely workable crew escape system.
I live in Huntsville. Here there was a lot of outcry as you can imagine when the Obama
Administration's plans to axe Constellation came out. Sounds like the Ares V may still
have a future... at least for now.
Maybe nothing
else can carry as bulky a load? Dunno.
AFAICT, a Delta IV Heavy would be perfectly suitable for launching ISS modules.
It's not suitable for launching astronauts. One of the possible alternatives to Ares
I was upgrading the Delta IV Heavy to be man-rated. NASA decided against that for
political reasons; my friends who are aerospace engineers tell me that from a technical
point of view it would have been better in every way than Ares I.