NASA may be getting itself into a cost bind down the road with its shuttle-derived back-to-the-Moon approach, critics say. Transportation costs alone to support a lunar outpost could reach $7-11 billion a year under NASA's current exploration plan, based on the cost experience with shuttle. And relying on a shuttle-derived heavy-lift rocket to put an entire lunar expedition, minus the crew, into low Earth orbit is riskier—if not cheaper—than breaking the mission into several launches. Addressing the 56th International Astronautical Congress (IAC) here, NASA Administrator Michael D. Griffin said he believes the difficulties associated with the ongoing International Space Station assembly demonstrate the value of the single-launch approach. "I'd say the next time that we have a 500-metric-ton payload to put in orbit, we try not to do it 15 or 20 tons at a time."
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