ISS Could Use Summer 2011 Shuttle Mission

Aviation Week and Space Technology ^ | 5/04/2010 | Mark Carreau

[ErnstStavroBlofeld]

Space station Program Manager Mike Suffredini would prefer a summer 2011 flight if NASA moves forward with an extra shuttle mission using orbiter Atlantis.

The timing would permit the shuttle to supply the orbiting laboratory with additional scientific hardware and components for the water recovery system that is recycling condensate from the breathing air and urine into drinking water for the six-person crews, Suffredini said May 3.

Nonetheless, there is no funding for a mid-2011 extension, and the shuttle program is proceeding with plans to wind up operations late this year, with the launching of the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) to the International Space Station aboard Endeavour, possibly on Nov. 26 (Aerospace DAILY, April 27).

Eight hundred shuttle workers from across the country will depart the workforce this week, leaving about 10,700 personnel to carry the program forward, NASA Shuttle Program Manager John Shannon said May 3.

Atlantis is being readied for a May 14 liftoff on what is to be the last scheduled flight of the 25-year-old winged orbiter. The final flight of the shuttle program, which has been assigned to Endeavour, had been set for a late July liftoff. It was moved to November last week to accommodate a change in magnets aboard the AMS. The observatory, which is in Europe, is not expected to reach Kennedy Space Center until August.

The shuttle program is anticipating $600 million in funding for three months of operations to carry it through December, or three months into Fiscal 2011. However, at current spending levels, shuttle operations could be extended through February with the 2011 funding, Shannon said.

Additional extensions would cost between $1.8 billion and $2.8 billion annually, depending on whether NASA was asked to resume some shuttle hardware production, he said.

[GeronL]

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