NASA Still Depends on Werner von Braun

Previously by George Giles: The Malevolent Wind

The Space Transportation System (STS) is officially over. The last one did not blow up so the program did go out not with a bang, but a whimper, and for everyone on board that was a good thing. Prior to the STS Americans had never died in space, but the shuttle remedied that statistic.

NASA is now dreaming/scheming/fantasizing about the next generation rocket, the so-called Space Launch System (SLS). The crew compartment is no longer the size of a Kharman-Ghia it has been made large enough for 4 so it is a Taurus station wagon. The end result is the same a financial rape of the taxpayer, a ride in a very uncomfortable space u2018taxi' for the politically connected, and the never ending hype of national pride.