[extropy-chat] Shuttle costs

[Mike Lorrey]

--- "kevinfreels.com" <kevin at kevinfreels.com> wrote:

> 
> Does anyone here have an idea of how much money has been spent since
> Columbia to "repair" the shuttle? What about the money spent
> maintaining a shuttle program while we are unable to fly the shuttle?
> 
> I'm sure everyone here knows that despite 2 1/2 years and a ton of
> money, the shuttle has been grounded again until at least next March
> because of the same problems. I am tired of seeing good money thrown
> at this thing while it continues to dog us.
> The orbiter is a miracle of modern engineering (or at least it was in
> the 1970s). It is perhaps the most complex machine ever built by
> human hands. The question is, should we be putting human beings into
> such a complex device when a less complex device could be made safer,
> more reliable, and less expensive? I think not. We've already gone 2
> 1/2 years without a manned space program and are looking at another 7
> months. ANother few years wouldn't hurt us either if we just killed
> the orbiter program and began development of something else now. We
> already know that something else needs to be developed soon. Why do
> we keep putting it off in favor of this unreliable old jaloppy

I think even most NASA supporters have realized what a pig the shuttle
is. The problem is we have obligations to build the ISS (it needs
something like 10-20 more shuttle flights to complete) without an
alternate launch system for the largest components.

I am highly impressed by the shuttle derived launchers being proposed
by Thiokol. A medium launcher using one SRB and a liquid fueled upper
stage for small to medium payloads and the Crew Exploration Vehicle is
a smart design with a much safer total risk than the shuttle system,
and the EELV unmanned launcher using two SRBs with a lengthened liquid
fuel tank with four SMEs below it to boost 170,000 lb payloads is an
excellent concept.

It appears that both concepts will be very affordable, building on
established and reliable shuttle technology, while eliminating many
shuttle risk factors, and shortening the development phase. In the
mean-time, we need to work with the system we have, as bad as it is.

It is typically a truism of technology that by the time all the kinks
are worked out of a particular technology, it is obsolete. With the
proposed shuttle derived systems, by the time they work out all the
kings of the fuel tank insulation, they'll be able to use it on the EELV.

Mike Lorrey
Vice-Chair, 2nd District, Libertarian Party of NH
Founder, Constitution Park Foundation:
http://constitutionpark.blogspot.com
Personal/political blog: http://intlib.blogspot.com

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