Re: The Return of Hermes! *Sigh*
>>>Our current space industry, given the technological heritage we now have to draw on, should be able to whomp up a working spaceplane that would fly on the nose of one of the bigger launchers for one heck of a lot less time and money than they are currently discussing.
True. Unless you count the 8 or 10 times the program can be expected to be trimmed down, ramped up, canceled, reinstated, refocused... This stuff costs money, as well as time.