[Karsus]

" A maintenance and upgrade period completed last year installed a new "glass cockpit" in Columbia, increased its cargo capacity, strengthened its crew cabin and enhanced the protection of its cooling system from orbital debris."

From: http://www.spacedaily.com/news/hubble-02b.html

[bonesmccoy]

The orbiter fleet rotates through a process called OMDP. During OMDP the orbiter is essentially dismantled and reassembled. The entire process is documented and reviewed by multiple layers of management.

Of more interest is the workforce issue involved with the shuttle program. Most of the engineers who originally designed, built, and flew the vehicles have retired. Very few of the original NASA and private contractor team are now involved with the program. Manpower issues have been a known issue for the past 10 years.

For this reason, some space policy analysts were suggesting that a next generation space vehicle should have been started in the early 1990's. However, Dan Goldin, the Clinton-appointed NASA Administrator, prioritized "faster, better, cheaper" instead of "safer".

Thanks Dan.