Many people have heard the phrase, "You need to take one step back in order to move to steps forward." The administrator's located in the confines of the dark hallways of the NASA administration building have taken this phrase to heart and have embraced it completely.

A LITTLE BACKGROUND

If you are not aware the Space Shuttle program is reaching its end and NASA is replacing it with the Constellation Program which is slated to get humans back to the Moon but is also the space craft of the future for the United States.

One would think that because the Constellation Program is the new and best thing coming out of NASA the public would get to see a much improved version of Apollo, but unfortunately that will not be happening. NASA decided to take a large step back and dust off some old technology....really old.

NASA designers scrapped the X-Plane concepts from Lockheed and its competitors for one they had already on their shelves, the design used in the famed Apollo program. Remember the massive Saturn-V rocket and the small capsule on top that took astronauts like Neil Armstrong to the Moon?

A TRUE STEP BACKWARDS

Well if you do get ready to see it again in the Constellation Program. That's right folks, NASA decided to take a step back into the 1960s in order to move the United States space program into the future. Of course NASA engineers will be making major improvements on the original design and the billions of dollars going to the development can attest to that, but it is still the basic concept.

The current program calls for using old 1960s technology that is beafed-up and coupled with exisiting Space Shuttle components, but once again it is till based on the old concept. The easiest question is to ask why?

THE REASON BEHIND THE MOVE

The major reason NASA will give is because of budget constraints but it has to do with a lot more than that. NASA is looking to "conserve" as much cash it can because the Constellation Program is not the only thing on its plate. NASA must keep the the International Space Station aloft, must develop the return to the Moon mission, and lastly develop the mission that will take humans to Mars.

All these programs mixed with a decreasing budget and decreasing public support lead NASA administrators to make the tough decision of canceling the X-Plane program and look into the warehouses for the answer to the replacement for the Space Shuttle.

In essence this was a smart move from their standpoint but it is going to put the United States in a major technology gap if other countries decide to steer clear of "ancient" technology in space exploration standards. I assume only time will tell if NASA made a wise choice or not but for now I think the Constellation Program is a waste of time and money, especially seeing the X-Plane program had picked a contractor and was waiting for production go-ahead from Congress. I guess that is why I am not an administrator at NASA and just a little man attempting to get a Space Studies degree.

Learn more about this author, Robert Freeman.
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