OpEd: Building for a Long Future in Space

We have been at this decision point before. The issue 50 years ago was which technical route should we follow for the nation’s first manned spacecraft: ballistic re-entry or winged re-entry? Max Faget, who designed the original Mercury capsule and contributed to the designs of the Gemini and Apollo spacecraft, was a firm supporter of ballistic re-entry as was eventually used for the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo programs. The ghost of Max Faget must have a sardonic smile at the experience of our astronaut who returned to Earth from the international space station (ISS) in a Russian ballistic re-entry vehicle .Others were not so sure and preferred an approach that incorporated more airplane-like features.