Looks like that Shuttle-derived heavy lifter idea is getting noticed. Unfortunately, Mr. O'Keefe seems to be poo-poohing the capsule/SDV ensemble, presumably in favor of the latest NASA paper queen.

Congressmen Take Note of Mars Society Campaign to Convert the Shuttle

In hearings today, members of congress cross-examined NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe as to what he thought of the Mars Society's idea to converting the Shuttle to a heavy lift vehicle to open the way to human exploration of the Moon and Mars. The plan, which also involves shifting the human launch function from the Shuttle Orbiter to a much simpler and safer capsule system that could be launched at much lower cost aloft a medium lift launch vehicle, was explained in an op-ed Mars Society president Robert Zubrin published in the Sept. 8 issue of the industry weekly Space News. Such a plan, Zubrin said, would offer much greater capability and safety at much lower cost than NASA's current proposal to spend $17 billion to develop a complex mini-shuttle type Orbital Space Plane as its next major project.

At the hearings, Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX) [!!! -- ed.] entered the full text of the Zubrin op-ed into the Congressional Record, and then asked NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe what he thought of it. Mr. O'Keefe responded defending NASA's current approach, saying that the ideas in the op-ed represented "wrong headed thinking." [emphasis added]

So as not to run afoul of SpaceNews, where the op-ed in question was printed, here's a summary of Zubrin's points:

• We have a space station now, and no longer need a vehicle which is itself part space station. Once ISS is complete, Shuttle will be overkill for the functions it will be asked to serve.
  
• The crew transfer function does not require a complex and therefore expensive mini-shuttle, it only requires a simple, reliable, and inexpensive capsule. (To this I would add, "and only one run by NASA as a stopgap until private initiatives bear fruit".)
  
• There is a push to make OSP complex, though, as a jobs program for the companies and the thousands of engineers and technicians who currently keep Shuttle running, rather than through any need for a complex vehicle.
  
• The result of this is cost estimates for OSP in the neighborhood of $17B.
  
• This money would be better spent developing the simple capsule and adapting Shuttle hardware and facilities to serve as a heavy-lift launch system.
  
• But this only make sense if there is some use for such a capability. That use should be sending manned missions to Mars.