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Ah, that is one detail I'd overlooked. How K-1 could affect not only how things happen in Congress, but those who build and operate (RpK/ATK) K-1 as well, since, as things stand currently, they have something already in place to take advantage of this particular direction should it go ahead...

IOTL what came from the Augustine Report - or more accurately, what was drawn up in response to it by the Administration and Bolden - caused one Hell of a Backlash in Congress, though at the time, there were hardly any NewSpace LVs actually flying - I think Falcon 1 was being retired at about...

I third this Nomination.

AFAIK, when redesigning the NK-15/15V into the NK-33/43, Kuznetsov had determined that the best way to assure them in the expendable N-1 was to Design, Build, & Test the Engines as Reusable Units. If that's true, it would explain (at least in part) why they're viable in the Kristler K-1 whose...

A good point here, though there is the 'Vested Interests' to factor in, who will be determined to protect their States jobs in this particular industry - and with it, their Votes come election time - many of which do carry a lot of clout AFAIK. Kistler, SpaceX, and any others who might make...

With the Ariane 5 launches I've seen - where they ignite the Vulcain Engine at T+0 and liftoff occurs at T+7 - I should've suspected this was a possibility. One thing's certain though, this will be having some major effects down the line. Just what changes they'll be, is what's got my...

That question mark at the end makes me wonder if it got off the pad.

I have to agree, those massive Walls of Text are, frankly, unreadable. They need to be broken down into much smaller chunks.

Perhaps for the same reason Starliner will use the Atlas V422 IOTL? For no Black Zones?

Yeah, the Soviet Economic Model was really starting to unravel at about this point. IIRC their military spending peaked at about 50% of their GDP, and is a major reason their economy began to stagnate in the 1970's (having peaked at ~70% of US GDP at the start of that decade). And the price...

IIRC there were a number of other countries that imposed overland Supersonic Travel before the US (FAA) did so in turn, though the timing of it IOTL (after Boeing 2707 was cancelled) was suspect. True, the L-2000 did have the advantage of a simpler design that gave it a better chance of...

40 intensive Martian Days, yet for all that, it does feel to me that that wasn't nearly enough time for them, and based on the update, perhaps they feel that way too. So the obvious question is: What now?

Well, this is a hard question for me to answer, since being Post-STS means, essentially, that there are no particularly good options open to NASA. The DIRECT option, as I see it, was the only option that had a realistic chance of surviving the early 2000's once STS was forced into retirement...

I think I know exactly what that phrase was taken from. That Equinox Documentary concerning the N1, and Kuznetsov's NK Engines. But the Woomera Launch Facility in Australia(?)? Why?

Thing is, Saturn V was chosen for the Apollo Moonshot for two key reasons: 1 - They needed a massive superbooster that could carry everything in one go in part due to lack of experience with Rendezvous and Docking so wanted as little as they could get away with. One. And in part to make...

For me, the obvious candidate would be the Vickers VC7: While its chances of besting the Boeing 707 on US Continental and Transatlantic Routes would be slim, its Hot-and-High ability would make it well-suited to Traditional 'Empire Routes', where the 707 couldn't take off or land safely...

Directed by Stanley Kubrick, who due to his near-fanatical need for perfection and realism...:p

Really? It was my understanding that SpaceX's Falcon 9 required a 15% Propellant Reserve for Barge Landings, and 30-35% for RTLS - requiring the 'Suicide Burn' (which they call the Hover-Slam) to make that landing work. Now by using LOX/LH2 with it's higher Isp, the reserves can either be...

Wait, the 230 has no upper stage engines? Then how is it gonna go anywhere?

The TTL Energia, the 9,300 Kg it offers to LEO in base form, sounds to me to be more than sufficient for even an uprated Soyuz, even to high-inclination orbits of 63-70 degrees could be possible, which could well make it serve as a viable replacement for the R-7 family of launchers should the...