Space Shuttle For Lunar Service?

[mr_mark]

Ok, ok, I know we've all said it would not work. Reentry speeds are to great and so on. But, what would it take to work? Could the shuttle payload bay house a lunar lander and some form of rocket to slow down the shuttle for Earth orbital reentry. On the surface it seems possible? Why not? Could orbital mechanics come into play to slow the shuttle down? Just a thought. I was looking at the possibilty and if you have an open mind, it may just work.

 

[MeteorWayne]

It's tiring to repeat the same thing so many times. The SHUTTLE CAN NOT TRAVEL TO THE MOON. It can reach the ISS, and with much less payload, can reach the Hubble orbit. It does no have enough thrust to reach the moon!!!!!

It's a moot point anyway. The shuttle does not exist after next September, or optimistically, October.

Get over it!

 

[robotical]

Yeah, this question should be in a FAQ stickied up top along with every other question that shows up here perennially.

 

[mr_mark]

Ouch! I'm with you meteorwayne but, I just wanted to get some out of the box thinking going. It's always interesting to see what people can think up. Heck, if we never try new and crazy ideas nothing would ever be developed.

 

[kelvinzero]

The shuttle is good for servicing and assembly in orbit. If any plan to go beyond LEO involved the shuttle, then its role would probably be to deliver the crew and also the astronauts to perform some complex assembly before the actual craft left LEO.

It didnt work out this way, but I believe this seemed entirely plausible when the shuttle was first envisioned?