RD- 180-OR Bust?

摘要

The United States' sustained access to space is in question. Heavily reliant on the Russian-made En-ergomash RD-180 engine to power its launches, US military space personnel are looking for a replacement because of the tense and uncertain status of American and Russian relations. Funds are already being appropriated for research and development of a new engine, but Gen. John E. Hyten, commander of Air Force Space Command, considers the issue to be urgent. He told reporters at the Air Force Association's Air & Space Conference in National Harbor, Md., in September that he'd like to have a US alternative to the RD-180 "yesterday." "Every time I look at [the Atlas V], it's the most beautiful rocket that I've ever seen. It's gorgeous. Then as it lifts ... I look and I see a Russian engine on the bottom," he said. "And it just doesn't seem right. I would prefer that there not be a Russian engine on the bottom of it, but there is."