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From: fisher@star.DEC (Burns Fisher ZKO1-1/D42 DTN 381-1466)
Newsgroups: net.columbia
Subject: All our eggs in one basket
Message-ID: <1733@decwrl.DEC.COM>
Date: Mon, 17-Mar-86 18:30:00 EST
Article-I.D.: decwrl.1733
Posted: Mon Mar 17 18:30:00 1986
Date-Received: Wed, 19-Mar-86 01:09:54 EST
Sender: daemon@decwrl.DEC.COM
Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation
Lines: 18

noscvax!rupp writes:

>It now seems clear (to me anyway), that it was unbelievably foolish to
>rely totally on the shuttles to launch our coming space satellites.  It
>was a gamble, a huge one.  Didn't somebody every ask the question, "If
>a shuttle goes down, for whatever reason, how will we launch satellites?"
>If a 747 crashes, you can ground all the remaining 747's and still have 
>plenty of jet planes left to carry the load.  Not so with a tiny fleet
>of shuttles of a single design.

In fact if the wrong 747 crashes, the shuttle program is in nearly as bad
trouble as if a shuttle is lost. There is only one (1) 747 shuttle transport
aircraft.  Without that, no landings at Edwards (and future KSC landings
are in questions now too, you will recall).

Burns

...decwrl!rhea!star!fisher