Downsizing Orion

NASA originally sketched out two versions of the new Orion capsule-- a sporty four-seater to take astronauts back to the Moon, and a bigger six-seater to ferry crews to and from the ISS. Starting later this month, the full crew complement of ISS will increase from three to six. In order to keep the Orion program on track and within budget for a 2015 first flight, however, NASA is delaying development of the six person model.

The decision has safety implications for ISS crews. After the shuttle is retired, there will be no single spacecraft capable of evacuating the entire ISS crew. The Russian Soyuz accomodates only three people. Therefore, in an emergency requiring removing the entire crew from the space station, two spacecraft would be needed-- either two Soyuz capsules, or one Soyuz and one Orion. That kind of complication is not good, especially if part of the ISS crew involves scientists, or tourists, who are not thoroughly trained, professional astronauts or cosmonauts.

At some point, the decision to pursue hardware that match objectives in space policy will have to be made. If it's not, resources will be wasted, opportunities will be missed, and lives will be put at more risk than necessary.