With Constellation Cancelled, NASA Turns To Proven Technology

ANN April 1st Special Edition: NASA and the National Air and Space Museum have reached an agreement for a long-term loan of the Apollo spacecraft currently on display in Washington so that NASA can get its manned space program back on track.

"We have a Command Module, A Lunar Module, even a rover," said Gen. John R. Dailey (USMC, Ret.), NASM Director. "They've been kept in good working order for the past 40 years, and bringing them back up to operational would be well within the NASA budget. If they [NASA] can get them to space, I don't see any problem going back to the moon."

"It's proven technology, we know it works, and we know HOW it works," said NASA administrator Charles Bolden. "Heck, I always wanted to fly one of those missions. I can't imagine any astronaut that wouldn't be thrilled to sit in an Apollo capsule. We could be up and ready to fly in a year once we bring the components back to Cape Canaveral."

SpaceX, which has a long-term launch agreement with NASA in Florida, is reportedly working around the clock to adapt a Falcon 9 heavy lift rocket to accommodate the Apollo spacecraft. "It's actually going better than expected," said an engineer speaking on condition of anonymity. "The Dragon system is larger than the old Apollo command module, so some flanging and additional composite material and we'll be ready to go."

President Barack Obama said he was very pleased to see the two agencies collaborating to bring the manned space program back on track. "This is just the kind of innovative thinking we're hoping for," the President said in a prepared statement. "When I cut the NASA budget, I knew those guys would be able to come up with something ... they just needed the proper incentives."

What is unclear is how the new plan will effect the thousand of aerospace engineers currently working on the shuttle program, though Microsoft has already offered a bid to upgrade the old Apollo computers to Windows 7. When asked if Apple would be bidding, a spokesperson said simply, and with a bit of a smirk, "Yeah, there's an app for that."

FMI: www.nasa.gov/classictech