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Shuttles Can't Finish Space Station

Posted by Zonk on from the letting-us-down dept.

Doug Dante writes "The shuttle can't make the 28 flights now planned before it retires in 2010, according to Dr. Michael D. Griffin, the new administrator of NASA. It can only do about 15-23, leaving 5-13 planned missions to alternate lift vehicles. NASA is expected to consult space station partners on alternatives once they are approved by the Bush administration. Should the Space Shuttle be cut loose?"

4 of 237 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Bring back Energia! by raptor_87 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Even if the Russians don't (or can't) bring back Energia, their Proton boosters are among the most powerful in use (beaten only by the new Delta-IV Heavy and very arguably the shuttle), and surprisingly cheap.

  2. Saturn V by drxray · · Score: 5, Informative
    from sci.space via skepticfiles.org.

    Despite a widespread belief to the contrary, the Saturn V blueprints
    have not been lost. They are kept at Marshall Space Flight Center on
    microfilm.

    The problem in re-creating the Saturn V is not finding the drawings, it
    is finding vendors who can supply mid-1960's vintage hardware (like
    guidance system components), and the fact that the launch pads and VAB
    have been converted to Space Shuttle use, so you have no place to launch
    from.


    Also, I think the moon is fairly low in metals, so mining it to build spacecraft isn't a great plan unless you want to build them out of rock. Building a moonbase by remote control would be pretty awesome though.
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  3. Re:Bush administration by Hungus · · Score: 5, Informative
    well according to this MSNBC article from a bit over 2 weeks ago
    "We have the money to do good things," said Administrator Michael Griffin, who has visited at least seven of NASA's centers since he was appointed in April. During a two-day visit at the home of human spaceflight, he spoke with astronauts, flight directors and other top administrators.

    Griffin said on Tuesday that the agency has received a steady flow of funding, which when adjusted for inflation is comparable to the funding the agency had when it first sent astronauts to the moon during the Apollo program of the 1960s and early 1970s.


    emphisis mine
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  4. each flight costs $500 million! by distantbody · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The space shuttle program was ruined in its early days by too many government/military/nasa requirements, in short they wanted it to be a "jack of all trades", but because most of the shuttles functionality and specifications are rarely used, it turned out to be "a master of none" because of all the bloat. each flight costs in the order of $500 million rather than initial projections of $10 to $20 million!

    The Crew Exploration Vehicle appears to be on the right track, just as the shuttle concept was, lets just hope they dont make the same mistakes again! oh well, if they mess this one up too we can always look forward to the future European EADS Phoenix reusable launch vehicle!



    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_shuttle Read how the shuttle designers were forced to compromise because of poor funding, and how that initial 'saving' has turned into another allmighty cost blowout. Those near-sighted politicians!!

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EADS_Phoenix What the shuttle should have been. Leave it up to the Europeans to get it right!

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crew_exploration_ve hicle Congress/US Defence force, don't stuff this one up, k thnx