[Magnum44]

Searched for this and didn't see it posted.

[The Duke]

Personally I don't think America any longer has the intrepid attitude that is requisite for doing space. We seem to have relinquished all else to the Chinese, why not space exploration as well?

[buccaneer81]

I think the gist of the article is probably true. The assembly line capability is long gone. We're left with three shuttles until the next generation comes on line in fifteen to twenty years.

[NonValueAdded]

Contrast the post with Senator: Nation must replace orbiter, an article in Florida Today bearing the subtitle "Station construction will demand flights resume quickly" and quotes Senator Bill Nelson (D- Florida, flew on the shuttle Columbia in 86) and Rep. Dave Weldon M.D. (R- Florida).

Weldon is quoted as saying "There are going to be a lot of people who are going to say 'If we are going to stay in the manned spaceflight business, we are going to have to move on more quickly with another space vehicle."

[Jim Noble]

We went to the Moon from nothing in eight years.

It cannot take twenty to build a new orbiter.

[tanknetter]

My understanding is that after the Hubble repair mission next year (2004) Columbia was pretty much going to be extraneous. Being the first space-worthy shuttle, she was somewhat heavier than Discovery, Atlantis and Endeavour, and couldn't heft the heavy ISS payloads up to the station's orbit. (but, in fairness, I've also read that she was assigned to fulfull a "light payload" crew change mission later this year ...)

If 4-orbiter fleet is indeed a necessity, a viable alternative for bringing the shuttle fleet back up to strength, without building a whole new orbiter would be to drag Enterprise away from the Smithsonian and upgrade her to flight status. That was actually the original intention ... Enterprise, upon fulfilling her glide-test duties was going to be rebuilt into the second space-worthy orbiter (after Columbia). The beancounters at NASA then concluded that it would be cheaper to take an existing static test article (STA-99) and finish it off as a shuttle. Hence STA-99 entered service as OV-099 Challenger.

After the Challenger was lost the idea of rebuilding Enterpise was again broached ... however NASA had, over the course of constructing four space-worthy shuttles, snuck in a substantial amount of funding for significant shuttle components ("structural spares", they were called) ... ostensibly as a hedge against one of the shuttles sustaining significant damage without being lost - but also as prefab long-lead items that would be on-hand if the decision were made to build a fifth space-worthy shuttle. These "structural spares" formed the basis for Endeavour.

Enterprise is, in terms of spaceframe and structure, a real shuttle. Doesn't have all the internal components, plumbing, fuel tanks, etc. But I've heard straight from NASA types that they consider her to be the "spare in the attic" that could be pulled out and flown (albiet at significant cost), if needed.

[Cicero]

It doesn't make sense to build another shuttle. The technology is outmoded and it would be enormously expensive without really putting us much further ahead. If there is a decision to move forward, the most sensible thing would be to try to speed up development of the next generation.

[joesnuffy]

Where does the money come from? NASA raises its own money?

[Brett66]

This is a good time to propose a bold intitiative. They could abandon the shuttle and go full steam ahead with the Orbital Space Plane. More than likely the shuttles will be around for a few years but their flight rate doesn't require a fleet of four. We could do whatever we need to do with the remaining three. The ISS still has to get built and the shuttle is the best launcher for the bigger ISS components.

[redrock]

IF...we,as a Nation, do NOT build more shuttles...or better yet...a BETTER type of craft.....then 7 brave men and women died today.....for nothing.

redrock

[CWOJackson]

Time to really start working on the space elevator.

[Atlas Sneezed]

Why is our governemnt in the manned spaceflight business anyway?

What part of the Constitution permits them to take our money to provide these circuses?

[TontoKowalski]

NASA (news - web sites) is extremely unlikely to build a new space shuttle to replace Columbia, according to experts, leaving the space agency with the three remaining orbiters as its entire fleet for the foreseeable future.

The next generation of reusable space vehicles is at least 10 to 15 years off, said Donald H. Emero, who served as the shuttle's chief engineer from 1989 to 1993.

"I think the country will not invest in any more shuttles," Emero said Saturday.

The guy is entitled to his opinion, and it's probably worth more than most because of his background.

But, he did last serve on the Shuttle program 10 years ago, which I would imagine to be an eternity in the technological world. It's certainly at least half-an-eternity in the political world. What the country is willing to invest in today is lightyears from what it was willing to invest in at the beginning of the clinton administration, when last Mr. Emero served.

[The KG9 Kid]

Lockheed-Martin owns a recently-shelved project: