I was wondering, what is the alternative for NASA, if they do not go for Space Shuttle in the post-Apollo era? The STS seems like a good idea on paper, but with the benefit of hindsight many of its flaws are obvious, and could NASA instead go with more "classical" expendable rockets and capsules, which would perhaps be both cheaper to develop and use then Shuttle?
Apollo program, for all that it managed to put a man on a Moon, seems to have left a wasteland behind itself, as it seems to me that none of the technologies developed for the Moon landing have lasted longer then a decade after the first Moon landing. Considering the amount of money and effort expended, would keeping at least some Apollo infrastructure in place allow NASA to have a much cheaper (and perhaps safer) program without resorting to Shuttle?
Even if only parts of Apollo are kept in service, perhaps some savings could still be made, like modifying Apollo Capsule for primarily LEO operations? Also, instead of bothering with Saturn rockets, why not combine it with Titan III rocket, which was man-rated, and cheaper to produce then Saturn?
Apollo program, for all that it managed to put a man on a Moon, seems to have left a wasteland behind itself, as it seems to me that none of the technologies developed for the Moon landing have lasted longer then a decade after the first Moon landing. Considering the amount of money and effort expended, would keeping at least some Apollo infrastructure in place allow NASA to have a much cheaper (and perhaps safer) program without resorting to Shuttle?
Even if only parts of Apollo are kept in service, perhaps some savings could still be made, like modifying Apollo Capsule for primarily LEO operations? Also, instead of bothering with Saturn rockets, why not combine it with Titan III rocket, which was man-rated, and cheaper to produce then Saturn?