We used to come back in a plane And land at an airport ! Are we going backwards ?

April 11, 2026 - 00:59 UTC

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No, the plane was for trips up to ISS. It docks there and flies back and forth.

Orion was a capsule with rockets attached, it had to go all the way to the moon so it had to be smaller and lighter. And it needed more propulsion and fuel.
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The plane was really more for building the ISS. It was a truck. Ferrying people just needs simple capsules, as the Soyuz shows.

About the only thing we don’t have without the shuttle is something to bring cargo back down. We can launch uncrewed and later send people to build.
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The plane wasn’t all that cheap despite a lot of reusability and wasn’t near safe enough. These capsules are much safer because they sit above all the explosive stuff and have an abort procedure.
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I wouldn't really say it's backwards. It's more of a "what's the right tool for the mission?" question, and a cost vs. benefit analysis. The "space plane" concept has its uses, but going to the moon isn't really one of them at this point.
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