The original decision to develop a Space Shuttle was a slam dunk. The big cost for space development is getting to Low Earth Orbit (LEO). If that cost could be dropped under $100/kg then private enterprise could take over and there would be no looking back. Some of Maxime Faget's original space shuttle designs probably could have got us into LEO for under $1000/kg. However those original designs were pecked to death by ducks and ultimately morphed into the current Space Shuttle. Our current Space Shuttle represents the worst possible combination of Expendable Launch Vehicle (ELV) and Reusable Launch Vehicle technologies.

Likewise, ***IF*** you have cheap access to space then a space station is also a slam dunk decision. The original space station was part of a package deal involving the Space Shuttle and a Space Tug. The space station was supposed to be a "floating dry dock" where satellites could be assembled in LEO and then transported to their working location using the Space Tug. The economics of a Space Station as a dry dock went down the tubes when the Shuttle's economics got hosed. Needless to say, the Space Tug never got off the drawing board.

The whole concept of cheap access to space has now been completely SNAFUed. Going back to capsules launched on ELVs is almost certainly a bad idea. Doing flag-and-footprints on the Moon is an even worse choice. The whole American Space Program is now poised to implode.

I sure hope Mike Griffin can pull a rabbit out of a hat. Fixing this is going to require some magic.

Gary