New Mars Forums

Hmm.. I posted a nice long eloquent reply to cIclops but it looks like it never made it. 

Our desire is to get the starter ribbon up in as few launches as possible balanced with as few dollars as possible in the timeframe we've set aside. Unless the government decides to subsidize our launches, it seems likely that private industry will be more able to satisfy our requirements. That doesn't, of course, rule out the possibility of using NASA.

If NASA can complete a project, the HLLV/CaLV might be a better option. The ISS, X-33, X-34, etc. don't give me a lot of confidence that the political spectrum won't change and scrap the entire project, however.

The goal of the HLLV design project is to build the next launch vehicle for the return to the moon (RtM). The RtM project was mandated by George Bush, the president with such an incredibly low approval rating that whoever follows him is going to have to disassociate himself (or herself) with any project they can poke fun at. There's enough diviciveness in the field of human space exploration that it seems as likely as not that the new president will cancel the RtM project and take NASA in a completely different direction. I hope that doesn't happen, but in a government administration, it's more about control and power than it is about science or desire.

Newt Gingrich has already spoken out against NASA's involvement in taking humans to space, and has instead proposed a series of prizes to continue to encourage private enterprise to take over the fulfillment of that need.

We will, of course, keep our options open and not burn any bridges. Our goal is to build the LiftPort Space Elevator, and as Michael Laine likes to say, "We don't even have all the questions yet, let alone all the answers."

We'll just have to wait and see.