MB Civic

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/31/AR2006083101067.html

Speaking as a science geek and Space Nut, IMHO this “new” design is a terrible disappointment. Lockheed has basically just rehashed the Apollo capsule, but made it the size of a truck. And reusable, at least in theory. But it still requires an external booster and lands not by itself on a runway, but by parachute on land or sea - implying that every re-entry will need multiple chopper borne retrieval teams. I suppose it is partially the very anti-science attitude of the Bush Administration - driven by the awful safety and service history of the Space Shuttle (ironic, isn’t it, that the much cruder Soyuz is so much more reliable?) - and several high profile explosions…but the X-33 Space Plane that was killed in committee in 2001 was a much more imaginative system, a true successor to the shuttles rather than a revival of 1960’s era technology. Boo, Hiss. All eyes on Burt Rutan to make the first commercially viable space vehicle, with the help of major backers like Virgin Atlantic’s Sir Richard Branson and Microsoft founder Paul Allen. Now THAT’s a giant leap for mankind…BS