CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Though a concrete vision of President Bush's plan for the United States to return humans to the Moon and then go on to Mars has yet be defined, U.S. Rep. Dave Weldon (R-Fla.) believes NASA should return to a capsule-shaped spacecraft design reminiscent of the Apollo command module.
"A ballistic capsule is the only thing that provides the kind of escape and safety features that are necessary to really protect the lives of the astronauts. It's also affordable," said Weldon, who represents Florida's Space Coast.
In Bush's initiative, unveiled Wednesday, a new Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) was put forth as the replacement for the aging space shuttle. A CEV also would be used to send astronauts to the Moon between 2015 and 2020 .
Weldon said a capsule-shaped spacecraft, launched atop Delta 4 or Atlas 5 rockets from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, would be the most economical and common sense approach to meeting President Bush's plan.Money already spent by the nation on designing an Orbital Space Plane, as well as successfully deploying the Delta 4 and Atlas 5 rockets, gives Weldon's prediction some credibility.
"While the president fell short of saying this specifically, I think if you read between the lines I think that's what you're going to end up with," Weldon said. "If we go that kind of common sense route, I think we will be able to execute this."
Bush's plan also calls for retiring the space shuttle fleet by 2010. The CEV would take on the role of transporting humans to and from low Earth orbit.
Exactly what that vehicle will look like and how it will be launched are details still many months away, said NASA's Jim Kennedy, who is director of the Kennedy Space Center.
A CEV could be capsule-shaped or have wings, and it could be launched atop an Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) or hardware derived from the space shuttle or even a newly-designed rocket.
"I know of nothing that is categorically off the table," Kennedy told SPACE.com.
"This is driven by space architecture -- which vehicle to use, which launch pads to use," Kennedy said. "We cannot answer today's curious questions -- and we all have them -- about what the architecture will be for the CEV."
A commission headed up by former secretary of the Air Force Pete Aldridge is expected to offer some direction as to how NASA can best implement the president's new vision, but specific details about the required hardware is not in the commission's mandate, Kennedy said.
Aldridge is no stranger to the nation's space program. He has been a key figure in military space operations for years and was selected to train as an astronaut for the first shuttle mission from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. That 1986 flight was cancelled after the Challenger disaster.
The choice of design for the CEV and its launcher will be carefully watched by local officials who are concerned about the economic impact and potential loss of jobs that would accompany retiring the shuttle fleet.
A decision to employ the CEV on the Delta 4 and Atlas 5 rockets, and not continue using shuttle-derived hardware in a cargo-only mode, would leave Launch Complex 39 at KSC without a role.
Also uncertain in that case would be the fate of some 8,000 employees at KSC who are directly tied to the shuttle program. The entire KSC workforce now numbers about 13,000.
Kennedy acknowledged that the transition from shuttle to CEV could mean a smaller total workforce for KSC, but any reductions wouldn't come for many years.
"The beauty of the vision we're talking about today is that we have six to eight years of a solid, stable shuttle program essentially the same as it was going to be, which is plenty of time to begin the transition process," Kennedy said.
In the meantime, KSC's immediate priority is crystal clear.
"Job one is safely returning the shuttle program to flight," Kennedy said.
The center director said that NASA continues to target Sept. 12 as the next shuttle launch date, but the launch won't take place unless all of the recommendations of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board have been met.
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