Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!usc!wuarchive!uunet!coplex!disk!joefish
From: joefish@disk.uucp (joefish)
Newsgroups: sci.space.shuttle
Subject: Re: After Endeavour, what then?
Message-ID: <1991May07.054232.19990@disk.uucp>
Date: 7 May 91 05:42:32 GMT
References: <346.281f448d@mwk.uucp> <1991May6.170018.5455@iti.org>
Organization: Digital Information Systems of KY
Lines: 51

In article <1991May6.170018.5455@iti.org> aws@iti.org (Allen W. Sherzer) writes:
>In article <346.281f448d@mwk.uucp> pittman@mwk.uucp writes:
>>Is Endeavour (OV-105) the absolutely last shuttle to be built?  
>
>With luck, yes.
>
>>Everything
>>I hear seems to indicate that, yet common sense tells me that with Freedom
>>going up over the next decade, the current shuttle fleet may be too old to
>>service it.  
>
>Freedom can be serviced for a tenth the cost using expendables. With
>no more new shuttles, NASA will need to use them. The taxpayers will
>save billions if they do.
>
>>Pardon my naivete, but what is the design lifetime of a shuttle orbiter?
>
>I think it is 100 flights.
>
>   Allen
>-- 
>+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
>|Allen W. Sherzer |        Allen's tactics are too tricky to deal with      |
>|   aws@iti.org   |             -- Harel Barzilai                           |
>+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+

There are other things than fred to think about.   I think it would be
useful to build another shuttle, but without wings, without heat tiles,
without rudder, and without landing gear, and use it to go to geo orbit
and remove nonworking satellites, and bring them down to LEO and put
them in a shuttle that can land them.

The weight of the wings, tiles and rudder and landing gear, could be
put into tanks and fuel for the orbital maneuvoring engines, and for
extra oxygen and supplies.   This special shuttle could be one step
toward building interplanetary manned ships.    There is not going
to be much change in the cabin between present shuttles and any new
craft for extended trips.

If a shuttle craft like this were built, it's total weight would
7/*d2XnGahbe payload, and it would
weigh close to 200,000 pounds.   Why develop a new heavy lift
system when one exists, but it isn't being used for heavy lifts,
only for lifting the aerospace shuttle.

I can't conceive of any need to lift anything in one piece 
heavier than 200,000 pounds, and the present shuttle system
can do it.    How many 200,000 pound cargos will there be during
the next 30 years?

Joe Fischer         joefish@disk.UUCP