"Jeff Findley" wrote in message
...

In article ,
says...

On Monday, June 29, 2015 at 9:29:21 PM UTC-4, Jeff Findley wrote:
In article ,
says...

I still believe nasa made a major error not having a enterprise fly
in space..........

Why? It would have cost more time and money than converting STA-99
into
OV-99, Challenger.

the good feeling would of helped nasa gain support everywhere.....

By wasting time and money to make a few Star Trek fans happy?
Bull****!

I know some dont care but it still bugs me

Most don't care, even the Star Trek fans, because *all* of the
remaining
shuttle orbiters are in museums, so it doesn't matter at all anymore.

enterprise could of been built from the beginning to be space capable.

I don't think so. ALT tests needed to be done as early as possible, so
the structure of Enterprise was outfitted specifically for the ALT
tests, not orbital flight. Remember, this was going on at the same time
STA-99 was undergoing testing as well. If significant problems were
found by either prototype, the operational vehicle would need to be
changed to differ from them.

and the star trek fan base isnt just a few people

Don't get me wrong, I am a fan too, but it would have been stupid to
build OV-101 Enterprise into an orbital vehicle when STA-99 was far
easier, cheaper, and faster as a starting point for OV-99 Challenger.

Jeff

I'm going to support Bob a bit here. Economically the decision was by far
the right one.

But I do wish at times OV-101 had been retrofitted at some point for
spaceflight. And I do think the PR wouldn't have hurt.

(on the other hand, losing it instead of Challenger would have been bigger a
blow PR-wise.)



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Greg D. Moore http://greenmountainsoftware.wordpress.com/
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