The Space Shuttle Must Be Stopped ?

[Hangtime]

Bingo, Mav.

Gents, not one instance of government spending or intent or activity is going to unanimously inspire the populace no matter what the result.

It's exceedingly clear in this instance that polarity exists, and both sides of the argument have 'unshakable' points.

I fall in solidly on the side that favors a renewed and very energetic approach to continuing manned space missions using the equipment at hand while simultaneously funding and developing a newer more effective and efficent manned method of delivering and recovering payloads to orbit.

Tossing the baby with the bathwater ain't the way to approach NASA's problems.

[Batz]

They projected 7 years to get a new vehicle into operation.

The shuttle maybe grounded for sometime. It was grounded for 3 years after Challenger.

Even at 7 years there no real ergency to keep the shuttle flying. It certainly wont cripple space exploration. Most of that exploration doesnt involve the shuttle anyway.

A 1 shot rocket is cheaper then 1 shuttle launch. 350-500 million dollars for 1 shuttle launch. The robot they sent to Mars was cheaper. That was a 1 shot deal.

Private industry doesnt send its satelites up in the shuttle because its too expensive. They use the "one shot" rockets.

NASA should take the time now to get a better system up.