LEO on the Cheap. Methods for Achieving Drastic Reductions in Space Launch Costs

摘要

President Kennedy's call for a manned lunar landing within the decade galvanizedour country for a massive and challenging undertaking. Neil Armstrong stepped onto the Moon a little more than eight years after the President's May 1961 speech before Congress-an accomplishment that stands as one of the great scientific, technical, and management achievements in human history. Viewed within the context of today's typical large aerospace programs, the rapidity of the Apollo Program's development is particularly impressive. Apollo succeeded despite the tragic January 1967 fire that prompted a major redesign of the manned capsule as well as significant personnel and management changes within NASA. As the 1960s drew to a close with the US basking in the limelight of its space successes, some space managers were already developing plans for space initiatives that would follow the Apollo Program. Despite the breathtaking success of Apollo, American public and Congressional opinion did not support funding large new space missions at the level and priority enjoyed by the manned lunar landing program. President Nixon's March 1970 statement reflected the sentiment within the US government at the time. The US needed a cheaper, simpler means of achieving access to space. The strong desire for economical space transportation may have been partially motivated by an image of wastefulness associated with the Apollo launch vehicle.