I agree with Doug Cooke, NASA exploration systems mission directorate’s deputy director, that the DIRECT concept is not the optimal solution its proponents claim it to be
I made my opposition to DIRECT clear in a reply to a reader’s comment on this blog in January
And I still think that DIRECT, on closer examination, would not be able to escape the issues encountered by Constellation; the switch to a five-segment sold rocket booster, the use of at least six RS-68 engines for the core stage and substantial integration, manufacturing and technology development issues with the rest of its lunar architecture
To those of you who have not seen the widening blogosphere coverage of this side issue, NASAWatch started asking NASA if its engineers had examined the DIRECT concept awhile ago. The agency denied it but since NASAWatch obtained this Marshall Space Flight center presentation and Florida Today’s space blog located this other pdf document that has appeared on NASA’s website server
But I do have my own doubts about Ares I’s first-stage and am waiting for NASA to solve its problems
