Re: Why Atlantis ?


iain@xxxxxxxxx wrote:
> 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.

How immediate is "immediate" also? I suspect Atlantis will still serve
as the rescue orbiter for STS 121. Endeavour under the current schedule
is supposed to be flying STS 116 or 117. I suppose one scenario is keep
Atlantis as backup, fly STS 115 with Atlantis as it'll have a good deal
of pre-flight processing accomplished, then retire her.

Either way, Atlantis is the first candidate likely for retirement.
She's gone the longest without an ODMP and with the current remaining
flights, it doesn't pay to conduct one on her. The last shuttle
missions will likely be flown by Discovery and Endeavour anyway, its
just a matter of how soon Atlantis is removed from the flight-line.

-A.L.

.

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 ?
    ... > Lets assume that the government confirms the retirement of one shuttle. ... > Are there technical reasons to select Atlantis as the one to retire? ... Endeavour is coming towards the end of her latest ODMP, ... Discovery is already in the flow for the next mission, ...
    (sci.space.shuttle)
  • Why Atlantis ?
    ... there is the rumour that NASA would retire Atlantis ... and keep the fleet at 2. ... maintenance cycle so it is the logical choice? ...
    (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)
  • Mission Control for Two Shuttles?
    ... Can Houston control and monitor two shuttles at once? ... Are there multiple bands or multipath available for separate telemetry? ... Or would Houston have just disconnected from Atlantis, told the crew to hold on and then switched all of their systems monitoring to Endeavour? ...
    (sci.space.shuttle)