>Well, the propulsion methods were fairly clearly not the same sort of
>system, is what I meant. So, making a craft that DID have wings, and
>so on, would have made more sense, and the other issues that faced
>Apollo would probably not have been of the same kinds and/or
>magnitudes, either. Thus, Agni V was designed as she was, something
>notably different from what landed on the natural satellite of Sol 3.
>
>...!
>Stoke Mandeville, Esq & The Victorian Ballsmiths
>"Nobody Want Verdigris-Covered Balls!"

Yeah, the main issue that Apollo had to deal with was weight. They not only had to have enough fuel to lift the payload, but enough fuel to lift that fuel, repeat several times. It's why the Rocket Equation is the devil in the details of exploring the solar system, and why any possible reactionless drive is such a huge thing.

The Agni V does not have to deal with all of that, and so has some massive advantages in terms of payload weight, takeoff/landing methodology, and loiter time (more life support mass available). Of course, it has the major limitation that it's entirely dependent on the availability of the Avatar to provide its main thrust.