From: tl@none.invalid   
      
   Ted Nolan   wrote:   
   >I read somewhere today that Artemis was mandated by Congress to use   
   >1970s Space Shuttle tech for some reason.   
      
   The Artemis program has always primarly been about keeping the Pork   
   flowing and to the "right" places for the established players in   
   Congress and Senate to take credit for money being spent in their   
   districts.   
      
   That wasn't the official reason listed of course but it wasn't like   
   they even tried to hide it, some where outright blatant about it.   
   There's a reason a number of people reads SLS as Senate Launch System   
   instead of Space Launch System.   
      
   The earlier Constellation program was also a Shuttle derived program   
   designed to keep pork flowing to the right places.   
      
   Both were always primarily works program, any hardware was incidental   
   (and in some cases undesirable!) and it's done well in that regard   
   which is why the insane money has kept on flowing despite posturing.   
      
   Being ultra expensive is a *feature* (more pork), not a bug.   
      
   Only the realization that China might beat them back to the Moon has   
   changed things a bit, but most involved are still firmly stuck in the   
   works/pork mindset.   
      
   Yes, there's some vague handwaving about "reusing proven technology"   
   but it was always transparent bullshit.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)