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"Space policy and the size of the space shuttle fleet"
rk wrote:
During the space shuttle era, policy makers have repeatedly wrestled with the issue of fleet size. The number of shuttles had both practical and symbolic significance, reflecting the robustness of the space transportation system and US preeminence in space. In debating how many shuttles were needed, NASA and other government entities weighed various arguments to determine the optimum number of vehicles for human spaceflight. Deliberations and decisions about shuttle fleet size reflected changing policy priorities and attitudes about the role of the shuttle. That history frames issues that may arise again in planning for new space transportation vehicles beyond the shuttle. Pretty true. According to Jenkins a big reason the "4 orbiter fleet" scheme got approved was on the basis that the shuttles would be key to national defense, namely delivering satelites into orbit. If a shuttle were lost then, were there a smaller fleet, of two or three orbiters, would infringe on that. Even immedietly after the Challenger disaster it wasn't clear the Vandenberg launch site was going to be shut down, or what the future of transporting military payloads into space was. Also Endeavour was an easy build due to the structural spares and frankly, to show the world, that the program would continue, so prestige. Now, post-Columbia, there was no talk of building a new orbiter. There are no national security needs met by the shuttle, the ISS program has been running off three orbiters find...Columbia was essentially the switch hitter of the fleet. I wonder how things would have gone if say, Atlantis were lost. With the new RTF regulations, Columbia would be basically out of a job. -A.L. |
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