Video: NASA Shuttle-derived Sidemount Heavy Launch Vehicle Concept
This video depicting NASA's Shuttle-derived Sidemount Heavy Launch Vehicle concept was shown at the 17 June 2009 meeting of the Review of U.S. Human Space Flight Plans Committee in Washington DC by NASA Space Shuttle Program Manager John Shannon.
SHUTTLE-C slight return!
WELL! The boys of DIRECT have really put the wind up NASA haven't they! This - along with the original NASA NLS concept DIRECT was derived from - gives NASA the opportunity to escape from the clutches of Industry. In this case, ATK which created and pushed through the ARES design which has proven both inadequate - and EXPENSIVE; not to mention diametrically opposed to the '04 VSE concept. I won't even go into the MASSIVE delays created by the ATK ARES designs.
Would that NASA had gone with this before ATK bribed the top brass - and several ex-Astronauts(no names, no pack drill!) - to go with their abomination. This HLV should prove even cheaper than DIRECT and if it had come quicker, PAD39B would be still intact. Now...BUT, a step in the right direction!