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Space Forum / Shuttle / June 2008Obama to extend Shuttle program?
Does Obama oppose or even want to possibly extend the Space Shuttle program thru 2014 in line with the belief that having no manned access to space before the CEV is ready would be bad policy for a visionary Kennedyesque leader? If Obama wins, space policy may change and the shuttle may get a new lease on life, and yes the president does have the authority to totally change everything when he wants, that's the executive branch's purview. Heck he could skip the return to the Moon and say hey we need to go to Mars and invest everything on that. Stands to reason politically it would provide more cover for a legacy of NEW leadership. Then again he may just cancel this manned space program nonsense ala Nixon. The only extension I expect from the shuttle is one that would convert the CAIB's "time deadline" into a "number of flights" deadline. Due to the extended grounding post Columbia, this would allow them to add a number of flights to the manifest perhaps to late 2011 or mid 2012, but I don't expect more could be added. At one point, the orbiters do need major maintenance and the CAIB wants recertification (this recertifiocation might be waterered down to turn it from "retirement is the only palatable option" into "we'll do inspections and paperwork to recertify it".) A politician with guts would fund the building a new shuttle V2.0 with the same shape, but with more modern systems, and the various improvements NASA has wanted for years (such as electric APUs) as well as better mainetnance designs (access to SSMEs for instance). And they'd order one shuttle every couple of years, thus keeping prodution line going and preventing destruction of the tooling. NASA is not a priority for politicians, nor a big public issue, so I don't expect it to be part of the USA election debates. And you don't want a politicians to make puhlic statements/commitments about NASA before he's had a serious look at the options and the political reasons that caused thecurrent regime to go the way they did. That will all be up to the NEXT administration. I think there will be a big fight, over those that wish to extend Shuttle and those that want to move on and push the CEV. I think both could win, retire one shuttle, namely Discovery. Overhaul Atlantis ( 2 year time period) , fly the sh.t out of Endeavour 2 flights a year perhaps 3. This would also provide the option of an additional service flight to hubble in 2011. Anything is possible... .Si se puera!! :)) >The only extension I expect from the shuttle is one that would convert >the CAIB's "time deadline" into a "number of flights" deadline. Due to [quoted text clipped - 18 lines] >before he's had a serious look at the options and the political reasons >that caused thecurrent regime to go the way they did. >That will all be up to the NEXT administration. Nope. It will be too late by then. Too many subcontractors have stopped making parts the Shuttle needs. They can probably add one or two more flights, but the window is closing fast even for them. >I think there will be >a big fight, over those that wish to extend Shuttle and those that >want to move on and push the CEV. I think both could win, retire >one shuttle, namely Discovery. I'm in the "both will lose" camp. Ares/Orion postponed indefinitely (Obama has already said five years) and Shuttle continuation/restart too expensive by the time Obama gets settled in. McCain will slash budgets in his quest to reduce the size of government. This time next year, things will be looking pretty bleak. >Overhaul Atlantis ( 2 year time >period) , fly the sh.t out of Endeavour 2 flights a year perhaps 3. You need two operational Shuttles for LON. >This would also provide the option of an additional service flight to >hubble in 2011. Anything is possible... .Si se puera!! :)) Possible, but very unlikely. Brian I do feel its rather remiss of the candidates to not actually state their angle on the space manned or otherwise subject. It leaves a vacuum where Nasa will tend to just tread water until someone with a few years of stable governance is in place. If the policies were fully aired, then at least they would know what to back and what to shelve. One has to also realise that the Shuttles are getting on in years now, and really, at some point someone will have to invest in something else, and where does all this cash come from? Probably depends on how quickly the US can extricate itself from international balls ups etc. You cannot have a war on terrorism, as its the sabre rattling imperialism which fuels the extremists to start with! Brian  SignatureBrian Gaff....Note, this account does not accept Bcc: email. graphics are great, but the blind can't hear them Email: briang1@blueyonder.co.uk ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ > Does Obama oppose or even want to possibly extend the Space Shuttle > program thru 2014 in line with the belief that having no manned access [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > Then again he may just cancel this manned space program nonsense ala > Nixon. >Then again he may just cancel this manned space program nonsense ala >Nixon. LBJ pretty much started us down that path by killing all post-Apollo (except SkyLab) and new Apollo/Saturn production in 1967. Nixon wasn't a big fan of the space program, but the death of Apollo was far from entirely his fault. Brian |
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