Re: Will selected shuttle vehicles be retired first, or all at one time?
- From: Brian Thorn <bthorn@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 28 Jun 2007 03:10:02 GMT
On Wed, 27 Jun 2007 23:41:16 GMT, robert casey <wa2ise@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
I would think
that NASA would gradually switch from the shuttles to the replacement
over time. That there would be a mix of vehicles in use for a short
while. Or would that be too much a logistical headache?
Too expensive. NASA can't afford to start building Ares/Orion until
the Shuttle's $4 billion/year budget is freed up. The funding increase
Bush promised when he introduced the Shuttle successor, Moon/Mars
initiative in 2004 did not materialize. So serious work on Ares/Orion
has to wait for Shuttle retirement, i.e. Fiscal Year 2011.
With such a funding shortfall and ever-growing gap between Shuttle and
Orion, NASA really, really needs to step back and take a new look at
its plans. Alot of its assumptions are wrong now, i.e., selecting Ares
I to launch crews because NASA needs to keep the SRB team together
until Ares V comes along. But now that there is definitely going to be
a lot of thumb-twiddling at ATK anyway, because Orion won't, assuming
there aren't even more delays, fly before 2014, why not dump Ares I (a
vehicle facing serious performance issues anyway) and go with Delta IV
or Atlas V and throw the Ares I development money into Orion? Uprating
the Delta's engine or stretching its upper stage a little has to be a
lot cheaper than an all-new SRB, an all-new upper stage, and
restarting production of an engine that's been defunct for 30 years. I
can think of a lot uses for that money.
Brian
.
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- Will selected shuttle vehicles be retired first, or all at one time?
- From: robert casey
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