Congressman Dave Weldon Wants to Save the Space Shuttle Fleet

On Dec 22, 12:49 pm, "Mark R. Whittington"
wrote:
Rep. Dave Weldon, Republican from Florida, has introduced legislation
that would keep the shuttle fleet flying past 2010 until such time as
the Orion space craft is operational.

This would make sense if the money were spent on building *brand new
shuttles* so that the ones that are getting old that are being used
now, far too long after their design lifetime, can be retired as
quickly as possible.

Since that isn't what is being proposed, it's a very bad idea.Yes,
space exploration is not without risks - but taking stupid risks by
trying to do things on the cheap doesn't just lead to more dead
astronauts, it places the space program at risk of being shut down.

As I've tried to note before, the way for the space program to survive
occasional accidents is for NASA to be *seen* to be taking a
conscientious attitude towards safety; the Apollo program shows how it
should be done.

John Savard