[FPSPACE] Fear and loathing on the launchpad

[Morris Jones]

Dear FPSers,

We have linked to press clippings and discussed Constellation in passing.

But I think we need to confront the bigger picture and ask just what the real
future of US manned spaceflight will be.

There's a lot of fear and loathing about, which seems to colour and cloud the debate among the space community. 

So what do we all think will really happen? 

It seems beyond doubt that the Shuttle will be mothballed in 2010, and Orion will not be ready for crews (reduced!) until 2016. 

Will NASA sit happily as a passenger on Soyuz in the meantime? Will Dragon be pressed into service for crews at some point in the gap? Is anything else possible? 

Most importantly, will NASA abandon ISS in 2015, thus reducing the need to rush Orion into flight?

Morris Jones
Sydney, Australia



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