paul@pilchuckDataio.UUCP (Paul Brownlow in the rain forest) (02/06/86)
There's been a lot of talk in here about how nice it would be to replace Challenger with another orbiter at the cost of approximately $2.2 billion. Why not use this money on the next generation of orbiters, such as the Transatmospheric Vehicle. The STS system is OLD technology, and we might be better served by pushing the limits further. The shuttle is a good vehicle. It is not a great vehicle. It is not the final solution for manned space exploration. Let's not keep building Model-T's. -- ------- Paul Brownlow Data I/O Corp. Redmond, WA ..uw-beaver!teltone!dataio!pilchuck!paul "You've got to ask yourself one question: 'do I feel lucky?' Well, do ya punk?"
joels@tekred.UUCP (Joel Swank) (02/08/86)
> There's been a lot of talk in here about how nice > it would be to replace Challenger with another orbiter > at the cost of approximately $2.2 billion. > > Why not use this money on the next generation of orbiters, > such as the Transatmospheric Vehicle. The STS system is > OLD technology, and we might be better served by pushing > the limits further. It took $14 billion and 10 years to develop this 'OLD' technology. Do you think it will take less to develop the next generation? > The shuttle is a good vehicle. It is not a great vehicle. > It is not the final solution for manned space exploration. > Let's not keep building Model-T's. The Model-T was in production for 20 years before something better came along. We need something to carry out the STS missions as soon as possible. Even replacing the Challenger is expected to take until 1989. Joel Swank Tektronix, Redmond Oregon
henry@utzoo.UUCP (Henry Spencer) (02/20/86)
> Why not use this money on the next generation of orbiters, > such as the Transatmospheric Vehicle... Because it means trading operational hardware for promises. This is seldom a good idea, especially when things like deficit reductions are quite likely to force postponements in TAV operational date. -- Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology {allegra,ihnp4,linus,decvax}!utzoo!henry