NASA Considering Early Retirement of Shuttle Program

Rei writes "While publicly assuring the public that it has no plans to do so, leaks have indicated that NASA has been quietly investigating plans to get rid of the Space Shuttle as soon as possible, and finish the International Space Station with disposable rockets, even as NASA works on achieving Return to Flight in 2005."

Comments

How they're going to get down.

[StarKruzr]

Like this.

Re:Good!

[julesh]

But are the reusable rockets rated for manned space-flight?

a) The story says disposable, not reusable
b) Doesn't look like it -- the article mentions relying on Soyuz (and potentially Shenzhou) for manned flights in future.

Re:no shuttles

[AKAImBatman]

Let me put it this way. The Space Shuttle costs $500 million dollars for each flight. A Delta II costs ~$50 million (with possible bulk discounts bringing the price down from there). The shuttle has a maximum cargo loadout of 28.8 metric tons. The Delta II has a maximum loadout of 10.9 metric tons.

1 Shuttle Flight:

$500m
28.8 metric tons

10 Delta II flights:

$500m
10 x 10.9 = 109 metric tons

Any questions?

Re:Constellation class

[slashd'oh]

"Named after the patterns that stars form in the night sky, Constellation Systems is responsible for developing the Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) and related exploration architecture systems. Constellation Systems is the combination of large and small systems that will provide humans the capabilities necessary to travel and explore the solar system. Constellation Systems will be made up of Earth-to-orbit, in-space and surface transportation systems, surface and space-based infrastructures, power generation, communications systems, maintenance and science instrumentation, and robotic investigators and assistants." (source)

Re:Saturn Vs, Please?

[OldAndSlow]

I worked in a NASA shop 10 years ago. I was surprized to learn that we couldn't restart production of the Saturns. We don't have all the manufacturing specs, prints, etc. And we certainly don't have any of the jigs and special setups that they used to make those birds.

The moral of the story is that when you shut down the manufacturing line for a complex product, you shut it down for good.

NASA is not planning to retire the Shuttle early.

[Nano2Sol]

If the reader had read the MSNBC story they might have understood that NASA commsioned several studies on different scenarios for the Shuttle. Since NASA commissions studies all the time on options for all its programs, so this study shouldn't come as any surprise.

To follow the space election political discussion including the fate of the shuttle from both sides, read this thread on NASA Watch.

Re:Supersonic Spaceplane

[AKAImBatman]

The Supersonic Spaceplane was scrapped in favor of the ScramJet Spaceplane, which was scrapped in favor of the DC-X Delta Clipper, which was scrapped in favor of the X-33 VentureStar, which was scrapped in favor of a little ScramJet missile (the X-43). Thus we've come full circle.

The real problem is that NASA has been trying to build craft out of untested technologies. The end result is that each program (with the exception of the DC-X) failed due to delays and cost overruns. For example, the VentureStar HAD to have hydrogen slush, composite tanks, linear aerospike engines, and new thermal protection systems all working perfectly the first time. There was no room to change out anything that didn't behave as expected.

As a result, we've been kind of chasing our tails around a bit instead of building craft out of proven technology.

Re:Thank you Ghost of Wernher von Braun!

[orac2]

Thank you Ghost of Wernher von Braun!

Hmmm... I'm not sure Von Braun's ghost is the best entity to summon here. Von Braun had more than a little to do with putting the shuttle on NASA's technology roadmap. Mars Direct is called Direct partly because it deliberately abandons a big chunk of the Von Braun architecture, which is that you have a space station, serviced by shuttles, where you assemble your outward bound spaceships. Even when you take out the station, Von Braun's 1969/1970 Mars architecture relies on shuttles to cover the gap between LEO and the ground. This article entitled The Von Braun Master Plan: National Dream or National Nightmare? sums up the objections to Von Braun's architecture -- and NASA's long term adherence to it -- concisely.

BTW, Here's Von Braun's 1950's vision