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Rescue Shuttle to be on standby
Flight International ^ | 08/08/06

Posted on 08/07/2006 7:21:08 PM PDT by KevinDavis

NASA has decided it will have an orbiter on standby for a rescue mission for every Space Shuttle flight to the end of the programme in 2010.

After the 2003 Columbia accident, NASA planned for contingency Space Shuttle support missions to rescue a damaged orbiter's crew from the International Space Station (ISS), which would act as a safe haven.

Since the July 2005 Discovery/STS 114 return to flight mission, NASA has had a Shuttle undergoing pre-launch processing to prepare it to rescue a crew within 45 days of an in-orbit Shuttle emergency being declared. The agency's stated goal was to end the contingency support policy once post-Columbia Shuttle changes had been flight proven, but now NASA says: "We are planning to have a rescue mission for every flight until the end of the programme."

(Excerpt) Read more at flightglobal.com ...


TOPICS: Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: nasa; rescue; shuttle; space; spaceshuttle

1 posted on 08/07/2006 7:21:08 PM PDT by KevinDavis
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To: RightWhale; Brett66; xrp; gdc314; anymouse; NonZeroSum; jimkress; discostu; The_Victor; ...

2 posted on 08/07/2006 7:21:35 PM PDT by KevinDavis (http://www.cafepress.com/spacefuture)
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To: KevinDavis

I just hope they don't get too cautious.


3 posted on 08/07/2006 7:22:35 PM PDT by cripplecreek (If stupidity got us into this mess, then why can't it get us out?)
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To: KevinDavis
Why am I thinking of Gerry Anderson's TV show?

"Thunderbirds are go!"

4 posted on 08/07/2006 7:27:30 PM PDT by ClearCase_guy ( “I'm the Emperor, and I want dumplings!” (German: Ich bin der Kaiser und will Knödel.))
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To: KevinDavis

...so every remaining flight will, of necessity, be to the ISS. No wonder they defunded the Hubble.


5 posted on 08/07/2006 7:31:12 PM PDT by patton (LGOPs = head toward the noise, kill anyone not dressed like you.)
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To: patton

Bingo.


6 posted on 08/07/2006 7:54:27 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (updated my FR profile on Thursday, July 27, 2006. https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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To: SunkenCiv

Yep - wrong orbit. can't do both on one mission.


7 posted on 08/07/2006 7:57:45 PM PDT by patton (LGOPs = head toward the noise, kill anyone not dressed like you.)
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To: KevinDavis

Hmmm, I wonder whether NASA has enough Shuttles to do just that.


Wait a second...didn't they recently announce one of the remaining Shuttles was permanently grounded? Yup, sure did!

I wonder if any of the rocket scientists at NASA has yet to figure out that they could make Atlantis a permanent "rescue" Shuttle, keeping it at a high level of readiness for a one-time mission, rather than letting it become a permanent spare parts warehouse?


8 posted on 08/07/2006 8:55:23 PM PDT by JRios1968 (That gal knows how to shake a possum...)
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To: KevinDavis

Kinda takes the sport out of it, doesn't it?


9 posted on 08/07/2006 9:08:04 PM PDT by Atlas Sneezed (Your FRiendly FReeper Patent Attorney)
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To: patton

Yeah, and there's no way (IMHO) that the Shuttle will even be able to fly enough to complete the ISS -- which will shortly thereafter be obsolescent and ditched into the Pacific.


10 posted on 08/07/2006 9:39:42 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (updated my FR profile on Thursday, July 27, 2006. https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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To: KevinDavis
Rotsa Ruck with that, NASA. They have been K-Balling the offline orbiters for parts to make the scheduled one flyable. I don't think NASA has enough spare parts to make two flyable simultaneously.
11 posted on 08/08/2006 6:15:31 AM PDT by Yo-Yo (USAF, TAC, 12th AF, 366 TFW, 366 MG, 366 CRS, Mtn Home AFB, 1978-81)
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To: JRios1968

I guess the grounded one is Endeavor huh? I never heard that news. What's the deal? Why's she been grounded?


12 posted on 08/08/2006 6:13:06 PM PDT by BlueOneGolf (I Ride and I Vote. Join me in the American Motorcyclist Association today)
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To: BlueOneGolf

I thought Atlantis was the grounded one, due to it needing extensive overhaul that would take it to the end of the Space Shuttle program.

Either way, it seems dumb to me that NASA is shooting itself in the foot by cutting its usable Shuttle fleet by one third in the interest of non-existent savings.


13 posted on 08/08/2006 8:15:31 PM PDT by JRios1968 (That gal knows how to shake a possum...)
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To: JRios1968; KevinDavis
Well Atlantis is the next shuttle to be launched later this month so it must be Endeavour. I've not heard any news about her being grounded.

Anyone else know?

14 posted on 08/09/2006 1:16:29 PM PDT by BlueOneGolf (I Ride and I Vote. Join me in the American Motorcyclist Association today)
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To: BlueOneGolf
Good question...here is the only thing I can find regarding deactivation of a Shuttle, starting in 2008.

NASA Shuttle Program Manager Wayne Hale told Kennedy Space Center employees in mid-February 2006 that Atlantis would be retired sometime in 2008 and would be used to supply parts for Discovery and Endeavour through the anticipated close of the Space Shuttle program in 2010. [1] Atlantis was chosen for early decommissioning to avoid a costly overhaul process that was slated to begin in 2008.

So, we're both right...kinda.

15 posted on 08/09/2006 7:28:39 PM PDT by JRios1968 (That gal knows how to shake a possum...)
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To: KevinDavis

Please put me on your space ping list! Thanks.


16 posted on 09/19/2006 1:16:11 PM PDT by ableLight
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