One needn’t be a narrow libertarian to be a Lockean constitutionalist. Check-out those works…you’ll be glad you did…

Neither of the two disasters could realistically have been predicted in advance, because the damn thing has so many flaws that they were too busy trying to stop a hundred other things from killing it.

“They were aware that the TPS was fragile and so the Shuttle’s design requirement was that there be no debris from the ET.”

Okay, then, I admit that the TPS didn’t violate its original specifications during Columbia. The problem, then, is that the original specifications didn’t call for a more durable system.

“when a tire comes off the rim, did the tires fail? No, because I didn’t use them as they were engineered to be used.”

Columbia is more like “the tires blew because I hit a pebble in the ground, and the tires weren’t designed to cope with pebbles.” It may not be a breach of the original specifications, but come on, any realistic tire system has to be able to deal with pebbles.

“oxidizer and fuel can be stored without special precautions;”

Kerosene and LOX don’t normally require special precautions. Kerosene will simply burn without exploding in roughly the same manner as rubber if ignited, and LOX, of course, won’t burn at all. Although LOX can boil off and create enough pressure to burst the tank, this equally applies to N2O and any other chilled gas.

“they will not react with each other until provided with a significant source of heat;”

This applies to every fuel except hypergols, which are not used in any ground launch, to my knowledge, due to low ISP.

Oh, and N2O is thermodynamically unstable and can violently decompose or even explode if detonated. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nitrous_oxide#Safety

“and the nitrous oxide is self-pressurizing so you just need simple valves and not complex, prone to failure turbopumps.”

The same thing applies to LOX! LOX will pressurize itself due to boiloff even faster than N2O will, and it’s not my fault if Rutan realized this (I do give him credit here) and NASA didn’t.

“The vehicle will automatically align itself “belly down” on reentry without pilot input (or the need for a reaction control system)”

Yes, and it also requires that you be able to move half the vehicle into a different orientation, requiring dozens of motors, gears, levers, and God knows what else, which not only can fail but also add weight. I’ll take the RCS system.

“I can’t wait to see how Burt tackles that problem.”

Burt doesn’t have an orbital vehicle, except possibly as a drawing on some design board.

“and blew up 25 seconds after launch due to a corroded nut”

The Falcon 1 used aluminium nuts, which are actually more expensive than steel; steel would not have corroded. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falcon_1#First_flight_failure)

“Shuttle can haul 63,500 pounds of payload into orbit then:”

Okay, this isn’t something Gemini could do, but it could be done with the Saturn V, Delta IV Heavy, Atlas Heavy, and I believe some Titan variations.

“provide power, cooling and telemetry.”

Gemini had all of these.

“Shuttle can deploy,”

A BDB can deploy a payload. Hell, the Vanguard rockets “deployed” their payload in 1958.

“retrieve,”

Satellite retrieval is uneconomical for the vast majority of satellites, because in addition to launching it again, you have to launch the retrieval mission as well. Data return can be done with radio, sample return can be done with heat shields, and build costs aren’t usually much greater than launch costs. So yes, it can do it, but there usually isn’t much point.

“assemble,”

Assemble means to put two things together into one thing, something that any EVA guy with maneuverability and the right equipment could do. Assembly of spacecraft was actually first demonstrated during Gemini.

“checkout,”

Really? Please tell me what potential problems can be spotted with a space shuttle that can’t be spotted with an ordinary EVA. And why this “checking out” didn’t work with Columbia.

“troubleshoot,”

Any kind of troubleshooting in space is almost invariably done via Houston. Troubleshooting started with the very first Mercury orbital mission (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury-Atlas_6)

“repair”

The only case I can remember of the S.S. repairing something was the HST in 1993. Granted, that would have been difficult to do with Gemini; however, a leftover Apollo capsule or the planned Orion spacecraft wouldn’t have any problems I can see.

Oh, and the Skylab space station was repaired by astronauts operating out of a leftover Apollo capsule in 1973.

“service”

The Skylab space station was “serviced” by leftover Apollo spacecraft in 1973.

“Shuttle provides a shirt-sleeve environment for up to seven crewmembers on missions exceeding 16 days.”

Okay, that’s 112 person-days; Skylab 4 logged 249 without resupply.

“The lack of direction for our national space policy came from the White House, not NASA Administrators.”

President Lyndon Johnson pretty much ignored space, and we completed the Apollo project. President George H. Bush made a grand committment and then failed to follow through, and it got canceled. President W. Bush made a grand committment and then failed to follow through, and it still doesn’t look like it’ll be canceled even three years later. Realistically, fault lays with the NASA admins who didn’t try and cut costs, Congresses that didn’t provide enough funding, and an apathetic public; the White House has had little to do with it.

“Do you think any NASA Administrator had the power to say “We’re going to expand human presence in space, starting with a return to the Moon”?”

They have the power to say pretty much anything they want, and Webb was very successful at getting funding for Apollo even if he didn’t start the project.

“The Nixon White House is responsible for the Space Shuttle.”

Yes, but rather indirectly. He, after all, never proposed, designed, funded, or built the thing.

“Nixon cut everything but the Shuttle.”

If I may remind you of the US Constitution, all requests for government spending must be made through the House, not the presidency.