Comments on: Florida rallies for jobs; New York’s very different shuttle fight

By: brobof

brobof — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 23:33:00 +0000

Wodun wrote @ March 25th, 2010 at 7:48 am
“Why not park one in orbit and use it to repair satellites or some other innovative purpose?”
Alas the Shuttle was not designed to last for more than three weeks in orbit! Thermal/ Power/ etc. Also critically the Thermal Protection System is vulnerable to orbital debris (MMOD) making any return moot. [See link below] Finally even assigned to a mothball orbit the *airframe* is an unnecessary mass that has to be lugged around using expensive propellants.
After some thirty odd years of service, they are museum pieces…
Retire the program with dignity.

http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=14333.msg315025#msg315025

Hubble on the other hand…

By: NASA Fan

NASA Fan — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 17:18:02 +0000

I’d place one Orbiter on Pad 39, with the RSS rotated around it, with the payload bay doors open, with some mock payloads in there.

I’d place the 2nd Orbiter in the OPF , with payload bay doors open, and some mock payload hung from the cranes in mid installation.

I’d place the 3rd Orbiter in the VAB, on the back of the last ET.

I’d shut down all these facilities for use by commercial crew Merchant 7 and open all the aforementioned venues to tourists.

Perhaps in this small way, the state of Florida might see an uptick in toursit dollars. And in this way, someone other than the taxpayer can pay to maintain theses facilities,,,,becuase once Shuttle is shut down….who is going to pay to keep the viable?

By: anon

anon — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 23:34:50 +0000

Enterprise should go to Dryden, where it actually flew, parked next to its carrier aircraft. Downey studios would be good also, although rumor has it that Paul Allen wants to add Enterprise to his museum in Seattle.

By: Rand Simberg

Rand Simberg — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 16:23:27 +0000

Downey Studios (formerly the North American Rockwell plant, where major components were built) might be a good venue.

By: MrEarl

MrEarl — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 16:16:12 +0000

Tom,
You and I FINALLY agree on something.

By: Bob Mahoney

Bob Mahoney — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 15:43:55 +0000

How about East Coast, West Coast, and middle of the country purely for accessibility reasons? That means (perhaps) NASM-Dulles, San Diego or Long Beach, and JSC (or Kansas). KSC can have Enterprise.

FWIW.

By: Major Tom

Major Tom — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 13:48:43 +0000

It would be a little ironic if the final push to shut down the Shuttle program came from legislators who want orbiters in their districts to drive tourist revenue.

FWIW…

By: Bill Hensley

Bill Hensley — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 12:29:14 +0000

It really just makes sense that an orbiter would be displayed at KSC and JSC. I hope that’s what happens. Enterprise (now at the Smithsonian) would make a great addition to the collection at Intrepid or another first rank museum in the country.

By: Wodun

Wodun — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 11:48:20 +0000

Why not park one in orbit and use it to repair satellites or some other innovative purpose?