The way consumer electronics has gone, maybe we should give the Shuttle to
the Chinese, let them make and launch them cheap and buy back the required
capacity.
It would annoy the heck out of the electorate though!
Funny how we are all happy to buy Chinese made cheap stuff, and yet we seem
oblivious to what its doing for jobs.
Brian

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"JF Mezei" wrote in message
...
Eddie Lyons wrote:
But that's dependent on the
overall lifetime of the ISS from now: is it going to be retired after
2020,
or get extended beyond? If it's retired as early as 2020 then there would
likely be no incentive to redevelop the sort of return capability the
Shuttle allowed,

And if depends if, before the ISS is de-orbited, plans for a martian
mission would get under way. With such plans, the launchers users to
support the ISS would become useful during the construction and supply
phases of the expedition ship.

But if, at the time the ISS is de-orbited, there is no such project,
then there will not be any need for technologies that allow cargo
up/down lift, automated docking/berthing, robotic arms to assemble new
modules etc.

The Shuttle and ISS are great tools in the evolution of space travel.
They may not be enough to get us to Mars, but they are a step in the
right direction.

There are lots of designs/devices in the ISS that could be re-used in
the development of an expedition ship. Unfortunatly, if ISS is
de-orbited a fair bit of time before a mars project is started, it is
likely that all the technology and experience gained with ISS will be
forgotten.