Safety panel supports (nearly cancelled) Ares I

The Augustine Commission is recommending cancellation of the Ares I rocket—which NASA spent hundreds of millions of dollars on as its future manned orbital launcher (for earth-orbital missions.)

This is supposed to save money. Instead, that group advised NASA to alter and use an existing commercial rocket—developed by the employers of commission members—which is not currently capable of launching people safely into space.

Besides the obvious conflict of interest, it’s just common sense that using a rocket designed to launch people into space  is much safer than trying to jigger a rocket designed to send satellites.

And a report issued by a safety commission agrees. (Once in awhile, these commissions get it right.) NASA’s Aerospace Safety Advisory Board also came out against extending the life of the Space Shuttle, another idea which has been bandied about.

By the way, although I’m impressed by SpaceX’s Dragon/Falcon space vehicle, it’s still not ready for launching people into orbit—and may never be. That’s too leaky a basket right now to be NASA’s future on.