Adam said:

"Maybe I'm naive. Gary, I need some of your cynical insight..."

--- end quote ---

Adam is most definitely not naive. Years ago when Nick Hoffman joined the HabitableZone, I mentioned that our collective I.Q. had just doubled. Nick is arguably one of the brightest guys on the planet but Adam is giving him some stiff competition.

Anyway, Adam is right in saying that no price improvement for LEO access in 30 years should be a scandal. NASA should never have compromised on Maxime Faget's original Space Shuttle's design. After they went to the external tank and the SRBs, there was no hope for Cheap Access to Space (CATS). If NASA's Administrator had been more ethical/professional about the Shuttle, he would have demanded either genuine CATS or termination of the Space Program. Going with a non-economical Space Shuttle only delayed the Space Program's eventual termination after squandering over a hundred billion dollars. For that amount of money, we could have establish a human base on Mars using Saturn V technology.

I can not believe we have painted ourselves into this corner!!

Gary