Damon Hill wrote:

"Brian Gaff" wrote in
. uk:


Without the Shuttle how could any large experiment or item be brought
back to earth?


Short answer, it can't. If it could be disassembled into
much smaller pieces, the most important parts might be
returnable in Soyuz or Orion--maybe.


It's probably cheaper to just return the items that need analyzing in a
lab on the ground, or just the data, and toss the rest into a lonely
ocean in a controlled manner. The expense of returning a large item
back for reuse probably costs the same or more than just building a new
replacement.