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Low-Cost Space Shuttle Replacement Proposed
FleaPlus writes "The Washington Times and Space.com has an article on a plan for a low-cost shuttle replacement by t/Space, an organization whose team includes AirLaunch LLC and Burt Rutan's Scaled Composites. Instead of a one-size-fits-all craft, t/Space's plan is to build an air-launched four-person capsule termed the Crew Transfer Vehicle (CXV), specialized for carrying people to and from low-Earth orbit. Once in orbit the CXV would dock with a separately-launched Crew Exploration Vehicle (likely built by Lockheed Martin or Northrop Grumman), which could be optimized for traveling between Earth orbit and the Moon. The CXV would also be able to dock with a space station or serve as a crew lifeboat. The group, which has already received some NASA funding, calculates that it can have the system ready by 2008 for $400 million, with a per-launch cost of $20 million (compared to ~$500 million per shuttle launch). Development would be done under a competitive fixed-price (instead of cost-plus) contract."
STS (the Space [Shuttle] Transportation System) is a flawed system design
That's why Apple is planning on releasing the new iShuttle! Initial iShuttles will come in "Bondi Blue" but other colors are planned. These new Apple space shuttles will be superior to the existing NASA design in just about every way...except for the fact that the cockpit control panel only has one button. Of course, you can purchase a third-party control panel with multiple buttons but NASA aficionados are extremely skeptical...
Yes, and it's a pain in the ass, the US shouldn't really on them after the shuttle.