Ares I Launch Vehicle - Systems Review

NASA has completed the systems requirement review of the Ares I launch vehicle which will replace the Space Shuutle as NASA's means for lauching Astronauts to the space station and eventually to the moon.

With the review complete, NASA can begin the final design and construction of the vehicle.

www.nasa.gov...

I won't pretend for even a moment to, in principle, like the Ares I, but I am resigned to the fact that it is what the US space program is going to get.

So, on that note, good for NASA. But I fail to see why Boeing or Lockmart couldn't man-rate the Delta IV Heavy or the Atlas V Heavy for less than the ~$3 Billion (no, not a typo) that ATK now says it will cost to build a 5-segment 1st stage for the Ares I - with some additional costs, of course for the 5-segment SRB's for the Ares V. Cut a couple tons from the (IMHO) over-heavy Orion capsule and an EELV would be up for the job - and the extra 6-12 CCB/CBC cores per year would bring the price of EELV's down for everyone, including NASA.

*Grumble grumble grumble...* If only there was an in-house NASA design that was more cost-effective than the Ares I, kept ATK's political connections in Washington happy, and was ultimately cheaper than the Ares I/Ares V pairing...


Note: For the record, I do recognize the political benefits of using an SRB for the Ares I - NASA can make the R&D do double-duty when it comes to the Ares V, it gives them a phenomenal mass-to-orbit potential, and politically it is the only way NASA will ever get another Saturn V-class launcher.

As a taxpayer I still don't have to like it...