Here to warp speed – how will we get there?

Currently, on Earth, there are three space-faring nations. Those are The USA, Russia, and China. That means that if a human being wants to go into space they will have to go to one of those nations. Other countries may have satellite launch capabilities, but there is a huge gulf between launching a satellite and launching people aboard an actual spaceship.

Russian Soyuz spaceship

As of next year, that number will shrink to two, as the USA will retire the shuttle fleet and have no replacement. That leaves the Russian Soyuz and the Chinese Shenzhou as humankinds only option for reaching space.

So what will the USA do? The answer is, we do not know. You see, the difficulty with building a new spaceship (for humans) is that it costs money and takes time. And the time it takes is longer than any single presidential term. That means that even if a President green-lights some amazing new spaceship, it could not be completed until probably two more presidents have been and gone.

Chinese Shenzhou spaceship

So you see the problem; each president is reluctant to throw money at NASA during his term because he will probably not see the benefits during his term. In fact, over the 30 or so years that the Shuttles have been running, there have been numerous plans for some, well, really cool spaceships.

Let’s have a look at some of those spacecraft that have been proposed, worked on, and then cancelled.

Venturestar

Real - the view from a Shuttle cargo bay

Ever watched Star Trek: Enterprise? Probably not, not many people did. Well, if you did you’ll remember the opening credits sequence was a montage of humankind’s progress from ancient sailing vessels right through to the fictional spaceship Enterprise. It shows the mercury capsule, then the Apollo missions, the Space Shuttle and Mars rover, which are all real. Then it switches to proposed NASA craft- one of which was subsequently completed (the International Space Station). Then it shows the craft that NASA at the time planned to replace the Shuttle, the Venturestar (X-33).

Planned Venturestar

There is no other way of saying this; the Venturestar was one cool spaceship (if only it had been built). 

It was planned to be the first human vessel that is “single stage to orbit” (SSTO). What does that mean? The current Space Shuttle requires 4 parts – the actual Orbiter (the white, spaceship bit), the two “SRBs” (the rocket boosters on the sides) and the big orange external fuel tank. But only the white Orbiter goes to space; the rest just falls back to earth as the vehicle ascends. The Venturestar was designed to be a true spaceship; the whole craft would go to space for missions, then return when done, ready to be re-fuelled and launch again.

Obviously not real

It was cancelled in 2001, despite being 85% complete. The official reason for this was ongoing difficulties with weight. However, if you read this technical breakdown of the demise of the project, you cannot help but feel that we were so very close to making the next step towards the future Star Trek writers had dreamed about.

 So what happened next?

CEV

So what was next on the drawing board for NASA? Well, arguably one of the few good things former President George Bush did was in 2004. He announced that he had given the green light for NASA to once again design a next-gen spaceship. To cut a long story short, the design which was first decided on was known as the CEV, or “Crew Exploration Vehicle”.  The initial proposal was again for a sleek spaceplane-like vehicle which would sit atop a giant rocket which would propel it into space. It would then separate from the rocket and complete exploration missions to the Moon, Mars or NEOs (Near Earth Objects) like asteroids.

The CEV would have taken us to explore the solar system

What happened to this admittedly cool-looking design? Well, NASA has several issues with these beautiful looking space-planes. But it all boils down to two things- expense and safety. It is extremely difficult to build a vehicle that is both a spaceship and a plane that is reliable, because every part needs to serve two purposes.

So, NASA scaled back its plans, and the CEV was redesigned as a capsule, known as Orion.

 Orion

Fully constructed Orion, at NASA

Orion is an underwhelming vehicle at first glance. It looks like “Apollo on steroids”. But aside from that fact that it is a capsule, Orion would actually have been a real stride forward. 

It would have provided access to space for up to seven people at a time – compared to China and Russia who can only send three. It would have pioneered new heat resistance technologies, and communication technologies. It would have been used to explore the Moon, Mars, and Asteroids, even do a fly-by of Venus. Who knows what other technological strides we would have made exploring the solar system with this vehicle.

Orion rocket test flight

But, in 2009 Obama decided to cancel the program. This was met with opposition, so Obama ‘compromised’ by agreeing to a watered-down version, “Orion Lite”.  But do not be fooled, this is as good as cancelling it. It certainly will not be doing any exploration.

Do you know what the most frustrating part of the story is? The fact that, unlike the Venturestar or the CEV, there were no problems with Orion. It was not overweight, or running over budget. It was not unfeasible or behind schedule. It had zero safety concerns. Its booster had even performed a full successful test flight on October 28^th, 2009. It was simply down to money and Obama’s Presidential term.

Imagine aliens arrived in orbit tomorrow, and requested that we make a peaceful first contact aboard their vessel. I would feel proud sending the Shuttle up to meet them. It represents one of our greatest vehicular achievements. I would have loved to send up the Venturestar - a real spaceship. But to be honest, I wouldn’t mind sending up the Orion. I’d even settle for the old Apollo lunar lander. But as it stands, we would simply have to ask for a lift. And that’s just embarrassing.