(ed kyle) writes:

First let me say that I think that space shuttle should
be retired and replaced as soon as possible.

How would a roboticized Shuttle compete with other launch vehicles
economically and otherwise? Seems like the price of conversion would
be reasonable enough, I don't know how the basic recurring per-flight
costs compare. I know the commonly-stated per-flight costs are huge,
but I suspect a lot of that has to do with astronauts and
mission-related (eg, hardware, planning, training) costs.