Space Forum / Shuttle / February 2005

I would not say 1.3 billion.  It makes more sense to say Thirteen Hundred
Million.

Government throws around the number, trillion, now.  Say the defit is 5
trillion, just to pull a number out of the hat.  Suppose I express it as 5
x 10^12.  Absolutely nobody has a handle on that number.  But if I say its
enough dollar bills to stretch all the way to Titan, then everybody knows
what I'm talking about.

I thought about the problem and decided it might be better to cut our
losses and drop the Shuttle from the program.  Why throw good money after
bad?  When the shuttle was in the preliminary design stages, other ideas
were suggested.  Once was a piggy-back airplane-spaceplane, 100% reusable.
Without the boosters, it would be at least twice as safe as what we've got
now.  Shouldn't we dust off those early concepts and take another look at
them?

Many problems of the Shuttle could be resolved with the primary stage
piggy-back.  There would be no chance for leading edge damage and even
better, with a larger primary stage more weight could be launched.  This
would permit more robust construction and get rid of the fragile heat
resistant tiles for more durable materials.