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Old September 17th 08, 04:17 PM posted to sci.space.shuttle,sci.space.history,sci.space.policy,sci.space.station
Rand Simberg[_1_]
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Default Shuttle program extension?

On Wed, 17 Sep 2008 15:05:21 GMT, in a place far, far away, Brian
Thorn made the phosphor on my monitor glow
in such a way as to indicate that:

On Wed, 17 Sep 2008 01:53:24 GMT, h (Rand
Simberg) wrote:

They have to. The sea lanes are relatively crowded, while LEO has
exactly one human-capable "ship".


Then that's the problem to be solved, not developing a "lifeboat" that
comes all the way to earth and idiotically abandons a
hundred-billion-dollar space station.


Agreed, but that's the world we live in. We're talking about what to
do for the years 2010-2015, not for 2025. In 2010, doing without a
lifeboat is a political non-starter.


I would think that Bigelow (or someone who purchased one from Bigelow)
could put a Sundancer in an ISS co-orbit by 2012, for a lot less than
a capsule will cost. With that safe haven in place, all you need is a
true lifeboat--a simple can with minimal propulsion, docking system,
and a few hours of life support.