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NASA Shies Away from Seemingly Superior Rocket Plan
Orlando Sentinel (FL) (06/22/08) Block, Robert

The Direct 2.0, or the Jupiter 120 rocket, could reduce years off a predicted five-year gap in American human space flight after the shuttle retires in 2010. Sources claim the rocket, which is being contracted by NASA employees during their downtime, could be airborne by 2013 for less than the expected price of NASA's Ares rocket. An unfinished NASA study claims Direct 2.0 would outperform Ares, which the agency is creating for its Constellation program to send astronauts to the moon. The preliminary results revealed Direct 2.0 was better in cost, total performance, and workforce retention. The problem, however, is that NASA is against the Direct 2.0, mostly because the agency and its administrator, Mike Griffin, are completely committed to the Ares rocket in spite of numerous design troubles. With a new administration entering office in 2009, though, NASA projects are likely to experience new scrutiny, and the unfinished NASA study suggests Ares might be at risk. Direc t 2.0 was initially promoted as an option for launching unmanned cargo and possibly as a way to bring back the Apollo spacecraft program. As there was no money around to construct it, the plan was terminated. In 1991, it was resuscitated by NASA and the U.S. Department of Defense as an option for launching military satellites. Since satellites are fairly light, however, this design employed less-costly engines with much less thrust than the initial idea. It was this poorer configuration that caused NASA to reject a Direct-style design in 2005 when it was seeking a shuttle replacement. Since then, groups of rocket advocates and engineers, including many working for NASA, have worked on the project in their free time and devised more powerful engines that could be connected to the bottom of the outside fuel tank.
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