

Budgeted funds have been redistributed








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By voronwe on 3/5/2011 10:22:47 PM , Rating: 3
Mellomonk, while I'm a big fan of HLVs, Ares V didn't get as far as you seem to think. The vehicle design wouldn't even be defined until March 2012 at the earliest, with a first Preliminary Design Review taking place in 2013. First and only test flight wasn't planned until 2018, and the Augustine panel seemed to think the program was actually three years behind schedule.

Heck, real work on Ares V wasn't scheduled to start until after Station had been deorbited.

I've never figured out whether the Bush Administration really intended to build Constellation, or whether it was just a political show and a big chunk of money to legislative supporters. If they intended to build it, why did they cut NASA's budget right after they announced we were going back to the Moon?

Constellation had the potential to bury the entire manned space program, permanently. Congress is still addicted to all that lucre; they've legislated their own design for a follow-on HLV. It WILL have solid boosters made in Utah, and liquid engines from Alabama; Congress says so.

