[X] My Assistant

[nprev]

Thought crossed my mind from another thread...what if the Ares/Orion system can be made reliable enough eventually to send crews on direct lunar trajectories rather than parking in LEO long enough to assure that pressing onward is safe within mission rules?

I know it sounds risky, but seems to me that if such a level of reliability can be achieved (and assuming the ability to do a safe and relatively comfortable Apollo 13-style return trajectory if things go awry--operative words there are "safe" and "comfortable" for the crew, not what 13 went through) then the payload delivery capability would increase significantly. Anybody knowledgable care to take a crack at this proposition?