[anymouse]

Max Faget is highly respected in the space community and in Washington.

[anymouse]

Space ping.

[Paul Ross]

If this program didn't go black, then it needs to be revived.

[Vince Ferrer]

We need to get a new vehicle, but I also think we should look to old technology to get us going quickly. Both the Gemini and Atlas vehicles are still being used, and have both carried astronauts. The manufacturing, designs, and launch facilities all exist for these. They are also very reliable. Neither has the lifting capacity of the shuttle, but they could be used to service the space station.

After we get back Titan II / Atlas as a manned program, then we can do design and development on complex new vehicles.

[Sam Cree]

One of these could be cool

[greasepaint]

The space shuttle should be replaced with a craft that
would resemble an expanded, reusable(decent portion),
land(soyuz style) / sea(apollo style) landable soyuz
type vehicle. I think there would be a huge improvement
in safety and a reduction in cost.

[DPB101]

No advantage in having any manned space vehicle.

[prisoner6]

Yes he's very respected, and I personally was never a big fan of the shuttle program, but I wonder if Ol' Max ever flew in a B52?

prisoner6

[RedBloodedAmerican]

I wonder what his personal experience is on the shuttle program. How many hours he put into it. 81 years old? Technology has changed allot since his day.

[RightWhale]

It's not that we don't like the Space Shuttle. It's just that they aren't doing anything with it that couldn't be done ten times cheaper, or half the cost anyway. What we need is for schoolkids to announce that they are studying so they can work for NASA. That isn't happening, it's really rare, not enough jobs.

I was offered a job at NASA/Goddard once many years ago when NASA was going places. Those days are gone. NASA is going nowhere, kind of sad for the space agency.

[Dengar01]

I was watching a documentary about moon travel. And the thesis basically was that if we were to continue at the pace we were in the 60s early 70s we would already have lunar bases. The only reason that the pace was so fast was response to the USSR space program.

I for one see the benefits in space travel and I think scraping the program would not only be overreacting but disasterous for advances in science.

[KevinDavis]

Check out the X-Prize. A lot of companies is trying to replace the shuttle.