Related to the "How to improve the Shuttle" thread, here is a "how to improve it better" thread (or, if as most people prefer, you want to do away with it altogether, a "how to do away with the Shuttle better" thread")
It is well known that James Webb, the administrator of NASA through almost the whole 1960s, greatly disliked post-Apollo (11) planning, and prevented significant planning and funding of post-Apollo programs during his tenure. This led to unfortunate results when less space-friendly Congresses and Administrations entered office and subsequently cut budgets to the bone at the very time NASA was attempting to sell a large new program (though that was partially because of the idiot Paine--a True Visionary if there ever was one).
So...the question is...how could NASA start planning for "post-Apollo" programs sooner, say with at least a few Phase A/B-type studies in the works by the mid-60s, and what results would that most likely have? The constraints in place are that you are working with the historical background of non-NASA programs and politics--so the Soviets will do what they did IOTL up to when they started to react to NASA post-Apollo planning, American domestic politics will be unchanged, and--most importantly--you will still have to deal with the Great Society and the Vietnam War.
EDIT: You may also want to consider possible managerial changes in the system--the NASA bureaucracy rather rapidly became rather remarkably sclerotic after Apollo was wrapped up. Here is what appears to be a good source on their actual management practices in the '60s (and to some extent their success, or rather lack thereof, in adapting to later periods).
It is well known that James Webb, the administrator of NASA through almost the whole 1960s, greatly disliked post-Apollo (11) planning, and prevented significant planning and funding of post-Apollo programs during his tenure. This led to unfortunate results when less space-friendly Congresses and Administrations entered office and subsequently cut budgets to the bone at the very time NASA was attempting to sell a large new program (though that was partially because of the idiot Paine--a True Visionary if there ever was one).
So...the question is...how could NASA start planning for "post-Apollo" programs sooner, say with at least a few Phase A/B-type studies in the works by the mid-60s, and what results would that most likely have? The constraints in place are that you are working with the historical background of non-NASA programs and politics--so the Soviets will do what they did IOTL up to when they started to react to NASA post-Apollo planning, American domestic politics will be unchanged, and--most importantly--you will still have to deal with the Great Society and the Vietnam War.
EDIT: You may also want to consider possible managerial changes in the system--the NASA bureaucracy rather rapidly became rather remarkably sclerotic after Apollo was wrapped up. Here is what appears to be a good source on their actual management practices in the '60s (and to some extent their success, or rather lack thereof, in adapting to later periods).
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