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Sounds like it could be a tough year for funding

I understand why some don't like it, its about a launcher's weight class. But the issue here should be the ATV. The debate should be the Verne unmanned payload and not an off-topic conversation about its Ariana launcher, if people want to say the launcher is bunk another thread ought to be created. Ariana won't be as reliable as the Soyuz but it is a much better heavy weight. I understand why some have hostility toward the Ariana because it could soon be a competitor to the Ares-I (planned super sized german hand grenade from NASA). Ariana had a few flops but since then it made twenty plus successful launches without incident. Ares-I will never get that chance, if it flops, and our astronauts are forced to abort or come plummeting down in Siberia its trips to the Moon will be effectively over. Ares-I will be over or forced to truck unmanned payloads to the ISS. A recent GAO report put the development cost of Ares I at $14.4 billion, which is already several billion more than the  estimate for FY08 budget. Ares-I will not be able to compete with Ariana for price, Hillary or McCain will fume at Griffin and we will be forced to re-open the whole EELV debate once again.

the info and photos in this thread are spectacular