Hyperbola hears on the grapevine that Sally Ride's subcommittee for the Review of US human spaceflight plans is looking at those Space Shuttle extension studies
The review's ISS/Shuttle subcommittee is led by Ride and is charged with looking at the Shuttle schedule and the human spaceflight gap, among other things
While persons on the Space Shuttle Programme (SSP) tell Hyperbola that Florida is largely resigned to losing the orbiter in 2010 the review of extension options will be welcomed by many
However it is more likely that the extension plans' re-examination has more to do with evaluating the SSP Heavy Lift Vehicle proposal. Its advocates suggest the orbiter's final few flights could be stretched out to mitigate contractor capability loss and minimise the gap between Shuttle and HLV
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Shuttle extension being looked at by Augustine?
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on July 16, 2009 3:23 AM | Reply
This is also a feature of the DIRECT proposal to ensure a smooth transition. I think the Shuttles should each make one last flight to ISS. Dock one to the ISS redundant docking and then use flex tubes to link the other two to it and each other. A lot more crew space on ISS. Not to mention expansion space for lab modules etc in the payload bays. Endeavor is young enough to equip with a VASIMR engine and do a fly-by or even be put in orbit around Mars, serving as a base. One could even be a recreation space. Lots of possibilities. Time we used the assets we have rather than scrapping so much good hardware.