🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <72597@cup.portal.com> BrianT@cup.portal.com (Brian Stuart Thorn) writes:

>>Considering that there are no heavy payloads to return to Earth, this
>>cannot be considered an advantage. Especially for the billions it costs
>>us.

>    GRO and UARS are both candidates for return to earth. 

Doing that would cost more then they are worth. It would be cheaper to
build new ones and launch them commercially.

>    LDEF and

LDEF would have been better flown as a series of smaller platforms.
Under those conditions it would be simple to build a vehicle which
returns them to Earth. That way each experimenter would get custom
time on orbit and the taxpayers would save billions.

>    The Hubble repair could still prove too much for orbiting
>    astronauts and thus require return to Earth for mirror replacement,

No for two reasons: 1) it would be cheaper to build another and fly it
and 2) in testimony before the House the program manager said Hubble
wouldn't survive the return trip.

To date there are no payloads which can be returned by Shuttle in a
cost effective manner.

>    All I'm saying is that Shuttle
>    did not meet its objectives, so don't be so sure about DC.

Same old arguement. I guess Boeing better cancel plans for the 777.
After all, Shuttle failed so 777 will as well.

>    A few weeks ago I mentioned one way that we could have kept some of
>    that market in the U.S. until NLS, DC or whatever was ready. You
>    said that it (maintaining Shuttle launches of commercial payloads)
>    was too costly. Maybe so (definitely so) but those subsidies would
>    have at least kept customers in the U.S. 

And at the same time killed any chance of a sustainable independent
commercial effort. If your going to do that it would be cheaper to
simple end all space activity.

>    Why wasn't DC-X built in 1983

You mean when the government was spending billions killing competition
with Shuttle subsidies? You can't be serious; who would be that stupid?

>    your argument that the next generation of boosters be a commerical
>    endeavor? What is it they say about building a better mousetrap?

It is hard to convince investors when they see that the largest customer
doesn't care about cheaper costs.

  Allen

-- 
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Allen W. Sherzer | "A great man is one who does nothing but leaves        |
|  aws@iti.org     |  nothing undone"                                       |
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