[FPSPACE] Did Soyuz help inspire CEV?

[Charles, John B. (JSC-SA2)]

David,
If one of the submitted proposals had followed through on an early design (I forget which contractor) to have a hab module forward of the re-entry vehicle, then I would have expected every press report to note the similarity (as with Shenzhou, for example). But Orion's outward appearance is so obviously similar to Apollo's that it would be confusing to credit Soyuz as the inspiration. 
I understand that your point may be that NASA analyzed a Soyuz option more recently than Apollo, but I still don't think one needs to credit Soyuz as the inspiration for a simpler, more robust approach than the Space Shuttle system.
--------------------------
JBC via  BlackBerry
 

----- Original Message -----
From: fpspace-bounces at friends-partners.org <fpspace-bounces at friends-partners.org>
To: fpspace at friends-partners.org <fpspace at friends-partners.org>
Sent: Sun Nov 19 14:49:37 2006
Subject: [FPSPACE] Did Soyuz help inspire CEV?

Perhaps someone has already considered this question - if so, I'd be glad to 
know it. Assuming that it's done right, the CEV will mark a return to the 
simple approach to spaceflight that the Soviets never abandoned, and in fact 
refined over the past 40 years. My question is, did NASA's experience with working 
with Soyuz since 1992 (when the Soyuz ACRV study began) help inspire the 
decision to turn back the clock?

I've seen articles by Americans who praise NASA for returning to the ways of 
Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo, but they don't mention Soyuz, which seems very 
strange. I might have missed some article or paper, however.

Thanks -

David

David S. F. Portree
author & educator
dsfportree at aol.com
(928) 226-1427
Flagstaff Arizona USA

DSFP homepage
http://members.aol.com/dsfportree/dsfp.htm

"It's like when you're a kid, the first time they tell you that the world's 
turning and you just can't quite believe it because everything looks like it's 
standing still. I can feel it - the turn of the Earth. The ground beneath our 
feet is spinning at a thousand miles an hour, the entire planet is hurtling 
around the Sun at sixty-seven thousand miles an hour, and I can feel it. We're 
falling through space, you and me. Clinging to the skin of this tiny little 
world, and if we let go..." - The Ninth Doctor





_______________________________________________
FPSPACE mailing list
FPSPACE at friends-partners.org
http://www.friends-partners.org/mailman/listinfo/fpspace