wolf.umass-cs@UDel-Relay@sri-unix.UUCP (07/23/83)
From: Alexander Wolf <wolf.umass-cs@UDel-Relay> [begin cynical comment] Why don't we hire Ariane to throw the damn TDRS's up there?! [end]
REM%MIT-MC@sri-unix.UUCP (07/26/83)
From: Robert Elton Maas <REM @ MIT-MC>
Date: 23 Jul 83 10:39-EST (Sat)
From: Alexander Wolf <wolf.umass-cs@UDel-Relay>
[begin cynical comment]
Why don't we hire Ariane to throw the damn TDRS's up there?!
[end]
Because Ariane isn't reliable. They have lost several payloads due to
booster malfunction, burning up in the atmosphere almost immediately.
I don't think we have a bunch of TDRS's to spare, do we?
Maybe in a year or so Ariane will have proved itself (it seems to be
getting better, but let's wait before we do anything drastic).
Here's an alternative idea: how about hiring some USSR rocket? They
have been pretty reliable for a lot of years. A lot of human beings
have ridden them, and except for one air leak and one other problem
nobody has been killed recently. The rockets themselves seem very
reliable. Maybe even send up on a manned mission? (Is there enough
extra payload capacity??)