Affordable Access to Space |
The shuttle certainly gets us into space. (A few of us, at least.) But many feel that there is a better way of getting into space, one that will lower all the barriers to access to orbit. Aerospace veteran G. Harry Stine is one of the foremost of those visionaries.
Here he explains that vision, and tells why he thinks its realization is being blocked.
Briefly, Stine's vision is of a fleet of what's known as SSTO (single stage to orbit) vehicles, operating on a regular basis and little troubled by weather. Think of the way airliners operate today. Such an operation promises to bring down the cost of putting a pound of payload in space to the point where, ultimately, ordinary folks can afford a ride.
As for the opposition, that comes from the established aerospace companies — and, yes, certain factions within NASA — for CATS would upset their way of doing business. Stine documents his case rather well in these pages.
| HALFWAY TO ANYWHERE: Achieving America's Destiny in Space |
| G. Harry Stine New York: M. Evans and Co., 1996 |
| ISBN 0-87131-805-9 |
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