web@garnet.berkeley.edu (William Baxter) (05/12/89)
>In article <136@enuxha.eas.asu.edu> kluksdah@enuxha.eas.asu.edu (Norman C. Kluksdahl) writes: >Why the *(&) did we throw away Saturn V???? The Saturn V was thrown away for the same reason that the ISF was shunned. It was the only way to protect a big, new project from a comparison it could not withstand--the Space Shuttle compared with the Saturn V, or the Space Station compared with ISF. The Saturn V was thrown away during James Fletcher's first stint as NASA administrator. The arguments made in favor of the Space Shuttle at the end of the Apollo project are the same as those put forward now in support of NASP, only more extreme. The Shuttle was to use normal runways and air traffic control, be fully reusable, cost $50 per pound to orbit initially, dropping to $10 per pound with repeated use. It was to push the development of new technology in every related area. All this with an estimated development cost of $5 billion. Believe it, or not. ---- William Baxter ARPA: web@{garnet,brahms,math}.Berkeley.EDU UUCP: {sun,dual,decwrl,decvax,hplabs,...}!ucbvax!garnet!web