SCHMIDT@SUMEX-AIM.ARPA (Christopher Schmidt) (02/06/86)
As I understand it (probably incorrectly) we've been sending up one shuttle per month instead of four because the turn-around time for refurbishment has proved to be 4 months instead of the 4 weeks the shuttle was originally engineered for. What takes so long? I once heard it was the main engines which suffered more wear than anticipated. Couldn't we increase shuttle launch rate by decreasing turnaround time by maintaining 4 sets of engines (or whatever the critical parts are) per shuttle? I would imagine it would be cheaper (and more timely) to build more engines/whatever than to build another shuttle. Or what's the key problem I'm overlooking? thanks, --Christopher -------