Fighting Over Retired Orbiters

[vogon13]

James Van Allen (yes, as in Belt) has semi-seriously suggested selling the shuttle fleet and the ISS to China.<br /><br />I am considering endorsing the idea.<br /><br /><br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#ff0000"><strong>TPTB went to Dallas and all I got was Plucked !!</strong></font></p><p><font color="#339966"><strong>So many people, so few recipes !!</strong></font></p><p><font color="#0000ff"><strong>Let's clean up this stinkhole !!</strong></font> </p> </div>

 

[radarredux]

> <i><font color="yellow">James Van Allen (yes, as in Belt) has semi-seriously suggested selling the shuttle fleet and the ISS to China.</font>/i><br /><br />One of the chief criticisms of the Shuttle system is the cost of the standing army of people required to support it. If China's labor costs are much lower (which is changing), then that may not be an issue for them.</i>

 

[edkyle98]

JSC would be the absolute worst place to try to preserve an orbiter. Houston has a terribly humid, polluted atmosphere. JSC has only now, after 30 years, managed to put its badly decaying Saturn V under a roof - and only a temporary one at that. Before that, Houston managed to let its Saturn V fall into the worst shape of those on display. If they park an orbiter on the JSC front lawn, it too will rot away.<br /><br /> - Ed Kyle

 

[willpittenger]

You are correct about the cycles. However, in this case, the structural stress from the orbiter's weight would be more important. The planes do not fly that high. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <hr style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em" />Will Pittenger<hr style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em" />Add this user box to your Wikipedia User Page to show your support for the SDC forums: <div style="margin-left:1em">{{User:Will Pittenger/User Boxes/Space.com Account}}</div> </div>