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United States Announces Resumption of Space Program


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William Caudill came before the press once more. He adjusted his tie, then began.

[quote name="Media Address"]
Good evening ladies and gentlemen of the United States. I am pleased to announce today that the United States is once again returning to the Space Race. We have passed budgeting refunding NASA and are going to start up an old program for a reusable SSTO space vehicle know as the [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VentureStar"]X-33 Venturestar[/url].

Current plans call for a working and functional model in 3 years time and it has become a primary focus of my administration.. to be completed on my last year in office as your interim President. The reason for our particular desire to use this kind of a vehicle is its potential ease of access to orbital bodies, including the Lunar surface if we include additional fuel in the lift cargo or do a booster assisted launch to ensure the craft retains as much as a fuel load as possible.

We hope to eventually use this platform to extend into lunar exploration, perhaps even setting up a colony or mining operations on the moon itself. Anyone interested in contributing to the program in terms of expertise or funding is welcome to do so. Contact my Technology Cabinet Minister, Ross Simons.

At this time, I'm willing to answer questions from the Media.
[/quote]

Edited by Maelstrom Vortex
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Ross Simons stepped forward, "Previous designs called for the use of a hydrogen fuel tank with a honeycombed model which failed repeatedly on the pad. Later tests got the tank for the Oxygen, constructed of light carbon fibers, correct and allowed for a light oxygen storage. We're looking into the possibility of using a thin carbon fiber sheathing on the external layers of the hydrogen tanks to help maintain the honey comb design's cohesion. It may require some modest addition of fuel space via a slight extension of the length of the craft to accomodate the extra weight, but since the problem was that the honey comb tank failed under pressure, this should solve it. The problem with the previous venture star is funding ran short for any additional proofing and at the time the government sought technically cheaper alternatives. Given 86% of the prototype had already been constructed, at the time.. a second approach wasn't even given consideration due to the expense."

Caudill stepped in, "And right now, for them, expense is not a problem because our economy is fully functioning and without a national debt burden as it had at the time.. so we can support them through the entire endeavor."

"We're also looking into lighter materials for construction components such as a carbon fiber wrap around some thinner steel structural elements where allowable to reduce the take off weight." Ross continued. "That's pretty much the focus of our research at the moment."

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