klr@hadron.UUCP (02/05/86)
In the February 3 1986 issue of Aviation Week & Space Technology (page 29), thre is an article entitled "Some Major Structural Components for Fifth Orbiter Are Available". It seems that "major structural assemblies necessary to produce a fifth (replacement - klr) shuttle are under construction or already ahve been completed and shipped to Rockwell International for storage at their shuttle assembly facility in Palmdale, Ca." These spares are a part of a $110-million spares program that was part of the 1984 budget. An addition $40-million was approved by congress in 1984, and then canceled last summer. However, "even with the large spare spacecraft elements, production of the necessary hardware and construction of a new orbiter would take several years, an estimated total investment of $1.5-billion and a substantial effort to reassemble a shuttle assembly workforce."