[JohnBovenmyer]

And this time build it out of titanium instead of aluminum.

Ti has better strength and thermal characteristics, but is 2/3 more dense than Al. Good idea, but weight may limit its use. Certainly we'll need a new something to replace Columbia. Certainly we should take advantage of newer materials and technology, but don't push the envelope so far that it takes forever to enter service! We didn't have enough heavy launch capacity before today. Maybe we shouldn't have stopped making the Saturn V. It certainly could have gotten the ISS up there faster. For the long haul we need newer, better, cheaper lift options. Private non-NASA initiatives offer the best chance if the government would get out of their way.

[Darksheare]

True enough, but teh last time we built anything out of titanium, Kelly Johnson was in charge of Lockheed Skunkworks....
It is denser, but takes better punishment.
I'm reminded that it was Clinton and NASA who decided that the shuttle replacement could be pushed back a few years.
And Carter who cut the original budget for it so that it ended up being aluminum bodied rather than titanium...

As Nasa says, "Cheaper, Better, Faster.. pick any two."
Disgusting that it takes the death of our astronauts to point out the faults in that idiotic thinking at NASA.