Keep our options open, Mars urges

[Inside KSC News Feeds]

Charles Mars is big on options, and he thinks the Obama administration should consider launching NASA's Orion space capsules on military rockets already flying from Cape Canaveral.

A retired NASA engineer who worked on Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, Skylab, the shuttle and Space Station Freedom, Mars wants a committee to be formed to "take a look at the Delta IV and Atlas V and see if there is an alternative" to NASA's Ares 1 rocket.
NASA should extend the shuttle program and see if military rockets might obviate the need to pay Russia to fly U.S. astronauts to the International Space Station, the Titusville resident said.

"We don't need to be relying on the Russians or anybody else to help our space program," Mars said. "To have to depend on them to take our astronauts and our logistics up is just not good."

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[J.McDonald]

As an aside, why are these referred to as 'military' rockets? It would seem, to me, to carry connotations that these are some form of missile rather than a vehicle designed to be at the leading egde of American sattelite launch technology.

[Rick]

Because the media in general have no idea what the real facts are?

This applies to all opinions.

[J.McDonald]

Yes, you're probably right.
It seems an unfortunate label, IMHO. It implies that an EELV would be the LV equivalent of a Willie's Jeep, i.e. primitive and uncomfortable.