Re: Why Atlantis ?

On 2005-12-17, John Doe <jdoe@xxxxxxx> wrote:
> In another thead, there is the rumour that NASA would retire Atlantis
> and keep the fleet at 2.
>
> Lets assume that the government confirms the retirement of one shuttle.
>
> Are there technical reasons to select Atlantis as the one to retire ?
>
> is the ship itself not as good as Endeavour or Discovery ? If so, what
> portions of the ship are inferior ?
>
> Or is it just a question of Atlantis being next in line for major
> maintenance cycle so it is the logical choice ?

Endeavour is coming towards the end of her latest ODMP, so they may
want to get at least some mileage out of the upgrades. IIRC, she's
also the newest, and lightest Orbiter (Highest Payload), So there are
good reasons *not* to retire Endeavour.

Discovery is already in the flow for the next mission, so retiring
her "immediately" could have a follow-on impact on when they could
fly the next mission.

> Or is all this 99.99999% political and politicians just randomly
> selecting one shuttle for retirement ?

Looking at what else is going on at the moment with the NASA Budget,
It would not suprise me if, indeed, this was a budget ploy.

Is Atlantis still supposed to be ready to fly a rescue flight, just
incase there's a problem with Discovery ? Or has that been relaxed
- I've not been keeping a close eye on things lately.

I seem to remember that NASA had prioritised work on Discovery,
and Atlantis to get ready for STS 114, leaving post ODMP Endeavour
work, or has that been caught up with now ?

If indeed Atlantis was to be available "on standby", and
(hypothetically) gets retired "immediately", that would require
Endeavour to take the "rescue" mission. What impact would her
current state have on the STS-121 launch date ?

Reading the reports on http://www.nasawatch.com/ about the PRCB
meetings, I see no discussion of using Endeavour instead of Atlantis
as a rescue orbiter, or any impact that might have on the timelines.


Iain.

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Atlantis? other problems?
    ... >launch dates due to the relative lack of daylight launch ... So 121 goes to Discovery. ... Pietrobon's site shows 117 on Endeavour. ... Atlantis was scheduled for 117 pre-PAL Ramp, ...
    (sci.space.shuttle)
  • Re: Why Atlantis ?
    ... there is the rumour that NASA would retire Atlantis ... >> is the ship itself not as good as Endeavour or Discovery? ...
    (sci.space.shuttle)
  • Re: Atlantis? other problems?
    ... >>Originally both 121 and 115 were on Atlantis. ... >>constraint between the two flights, which was not a problem for the ... >>Discovery (they'd prefer Endeavour, the lightest, but it's in OMM). ...
    (sci.space.shuttle)
  • Re: Coprorate-speak
    ... list had probably been created before the "surprise discovery" of a ... towards the end) were thrown out under inferior conditions. ... which gave me the leverage to get a retirement ... Please note the changed e-mail and web addresses. ...
    (alt.usage.english)