As I mentioned in earlier e-mail, there are two things to watch for:

1) Reuse of Space Shuttle technology for heavy lift, e.g. Shuttle-C.
2) CEV designed as a high Lift-over-Drag entry vehicle.

Mike Griffin had already indicated that he planned on reusing Shuttle technology for VSE (Vision for Space Exploration). Therefore it is likely that we'll get Shuttle-C. However there were indications that NASA was going to reuse Apollo Command Module (CM) technology for the CEV. This was definitely bad news. We can not do Earth return from Mars with the Apollo CM. Therefore a CEV as an Apollo-CM would mean that Mars was never really an option. A disaster scenario would have been an Apollo-CM launched with a Delta-IV coupled with full abandonment of Space Shuttle technology. That scenario would have indicated going to Mars as a non-option and even going to the Moon was unlikely. An Apollo-CM on a Delta-IV would indicate that full shutdown of the Space Program was the most likely hidden agenda. Fortunately this appears not to be the case.

The Lockheed-Martin design is exciting because this tehnology enables travel to Mars and maintains the lifting body technical heritage from the ASSET, PRIME, X-20 and Space Shuttle Orbit Vehicle (OV). If we went with an Apollo-CM geometry then the trivial aerodynamics associated with the CM would have replaced the Space Shuttle's aerodynamics as the state-of-the-art (a huge step backwards).

More things to good things watch for (icing on the cake):

Rapid phase out of the Space Shuttle and ISS.
Fast tracking Prometheus (nuclear electric propulsion).
Restart of the NERVA program (nuclear thermal rockets).
Funding for Cheap Access to Space (CATS).

Gary