Shuttle program extension?

"Brian Thorn" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 16 Sep 2008 09:57:35 -0400, "Jeff Findley"
wrote:

(Though one could argue that at some point one may want to simply accept
that lifeboats aren't required for 100% of the crew.)

Never gonna happen. That's a political non-starter.

It's a political non-starter, but it's a bit silly.

ISS currently had many redundant systems and modules.

So did the Titanic. Now we have lifeboats for everyone.

Tell that to the guys at the South Pole research station. Where's their
lifeboats? On top of that, evac from there in the middle of the winter is
extremely dangerous at best. At some point, your station grows so big you
simply can't supply lifeboats for everyone.

What do you do for a Mars mission? Multiple reentry vehicles? Do you make
them the safe haven for the trip back as well as the return vehicle? How
big would they need to be to support the astronauts for the entire trip
back? I think the lifeboat analogy breaks down for a Mars mission.

Jeff
--
A clever person solves a problem.
A wise person avoids it. -- Einstein