After
\nthe happenings of the last weekend and having read about all the things NASA
\nhave been wibbling on about in the last few months and also knowing how awful
\nNASA has become in managing spacecraft design I’ve had a few thoughts on
\nwhat I think should happen…<\/p>\n
Firstly, as a stop-gap the shuttle has to keep flying, it’s the only thing
\nwe have which can do the tasks necessary in human spaceflight currently.<\/p>\n
Secondly, the US government should request bids from all over the world for
\ntwo separate launch vehicles., a space taxi and a space truck. The former
\nwould be manned, the later would be human habitable in space but would not
\nbe manned during the acsent or decent stages. All vehicles should be able
\nto be flown unpiloted and the space taxis should be able to dock with each
\nother and be able to stay on standby for long periods of time (rescue missions).
\nAny design should be concidered, however radical and all parts of the spacecraft
\nshould be designed to be reusable and have longevity built in.<\/p>\n
Now, here are the contraversial bits:-<\/p>\n
(1) All consortia must supply at their own cost one fully operational prototype
\nto NASA for a comparative “Rain Hill Trials” of all vehicles. (The Rain Hill
\nTrials were a comparative test of different designs of steam locomotive in
\n1829, Stephenson’s engine “Rocket” won.)<\/p>\n
During the design and build stages of the vehicles full access to all NASA
\nstaff and fecilities would be free of charge so as to offset development
\ncosts.<\/p>\n
(2) All designs will be fully disclosed to the public and competitors. Many eyes will help see flaws in the design.<\/p>\n
(3) NASA may decide to buy a production run of any one or more of the designs after the trials.<\/p>\n
(4) Once designed, the consortia may sell the vehicles to anyone in the world
\nwho wants to buy them only restricted by export regulations inposed by the
\nUnited Nations.<\/p>\n
(5) Crew safety is paramount. Options for safe crew recovery from all possible
\nsituations should be catered for. (eg. Hardened crew quarters during decent
\nwhich have their own secondary heat shielding and are capable of sustaining
\nlife in such an incident as that which played out on Saturday.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
After the happenings of the last weekend and having read about all the things NASA have been wibbling on about in the last few months and also knowing how awful NASA has become in managing spacecraft design I’ve had a … Continue reading