Just how much longer is the space shuttle good for?

L

LTR12101B

1
http://www.news24.com/News24/Technology/News/0,,2-13-1443_1744175,00.html

Debris falls from the shuttle at lift-off, and while dismissed as "not unusual", it brings back memories of the Columbia.

Is the ISS going to be depending on a vehicle that isn't up to to the task.


Whatever happened to "HOTOL"? - that looked like the most promising idea for near space travel, flying to the edge of the atmosphere on fuel + air, then crossing into space on rocket power. If they never solved the single engine problem, maybe an atmospheric flight mothership/booster would have been a solution.
 
janiedriver

janiedriver

1
From what I heard on the news they are flying with fingers crossed..because they are afraid of losing the program. Does that seem wrong to anyone else?
 
janiedriver

janiedriver

1
I could live without the close up pictures of Mars...or anywhere else for that matter, if it would mean a tax cut. And those are unmanned missions. It seems so strange to keep a useless program going because it once had glory days.
 
L

LTR12101B

1
What a great idea ... perhaps they could take tobacco sponsorship as well, now it's approaching a complete ban in F1

Just one thing, it had better not use Microsoft windows, as it's hard to press CTRL-ALT-DEL with the glove of a space suit, when the airlock's just had a general protection fault.


I'd say there is not any current manned "exploration", though the International Space Station continues an era of experimentation in the zero-G orbital environment that was started with Skylab.

Satellites can be launched by unmanned craft, but the shuttle is uniquely capable of mantaining and retrieving devices that operate at it's orbital level
 
janiedriver

janiedriver

1
There was just a safe landing...but I have to say I held my breath. The reporters are now talking about the next mission. I say...we've pushed our luck long enough.
 
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