(Gary W. Swearingen) wrote in
:

(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.

Nope, most shuttle costs are overhead, due to the shuttle's very low flight
rate and the large number of personnel required to process it. Automating
it won't save money; it will cost money due to the cost of conversion (not
trivial, especially if you want automated rendezvous/docking capability)
and the increased odds of losing an automated orbiter (there are many
contingency scenarios where the crew can take action to save the vehicle
that would be lost with an automated vehicle).


--
JRF

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