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by ap22213 4221 days ago
The US needs another cold war to get it motivated. Maybe if China steps it up...
1 comments
tunap 4221 days ago
The US is currently, and for the foreseeable future, solely reliant upon Russia to get astronauts to & from LEO & the ISS. Frankly, I'm surprised Putin hasn't rattled that saber yet.

Edit: I'm rooting for Sabre & Skylon, myself. Perhaps not for big payloads but for 'naut travel, anyway.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SABRE_%28rocket_engine%29

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skylon_%28spacecraft%29

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seanflyon 4221 days ago
> and for the foreseeable future

That depends on whether or not 2017 is foreseeable (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commercial_Crew_Development). Since 2012 the US has had a craft that is capable of taking people to and from the ISS, NASA just wants to do an excessive amount of testing and incremental improvements before we trust it (http://www.newscientist.com/blogs/shortsharpscience/2012/05/...).

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