Large solid rockets have never been a very good way to build launchers that might have crews on top, especially because of the problems in getting the crew away from a failing launcher. Henry Spencer Read Quote
It’s true that Apollo 10’s lander was overweight. Late in the craft’s development, it became clear that its ballooning weight was endangering the whole mission. Henry Spencer Read Quote
Developing expendable rockets is always going to be painful and expensive. Throwing the whole rocket away on each attempt not only costs a lot, it also hampers figuring out just what went wrong because you don’t get the rocket back for inspection. Henry Spencer Read Quote
Reusable rockets promise much easier testing because you should usually get them back, and you can debug as you go rather than having to get everything perfect the first time. Henry Spencer Read Quote
If your goal is to change the world, you can’t start by doing things the same old way because it sells better. Henry Spencer Read Quote
The key virtue of orbital assembly is that it eliminates the tight connection between the size of the expedition and the size of the rockets used to launch it. Henry Spencer Read Quote
In the first few years, it was at least plausible to come in in the morning and read all the Usenet traffic that had come in, and 15 minutes later be off doing something useful. Henry Spencer Read Quote
Technically and financially, it might still make sense to give up on Ares I and simply write off the money spent on it, but politically, that’s probably impossible. Henry Spencer Read Quote
Foul-ups in testing are not uncommon, especially when the test setup is being tried for the first time. Henry Spencer Read Quote
Spaceflight, especially in the Mercury spacecraft, clearly wasn’t going to be much like flying an airplane. Henry Spencer Read Quote
