S
shuttle_rtf
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On another thread...copied here as there's a really interesting subject provoked by Shuttle Guy in his reponse on there.<br /><br />Me />"Has NASA announced the planned mission quota for the remainder of the Shuttle's lifetime? 28 STS' I think was mentioned to me once, if memory serves."<br /><br />Shuttle Guy />Yes, JSC tells us 28 Shuttle launches to "complete the ISS" However I believe that the Shuttle will continue to fly both as it is now and as a Shuttle-C past 2010.<br /><br />I am not saying that because I am on the Shuttle program...I expect to retire to skydiving every day and flying hang gliders and sail planes by 209....I may stay longer until Lunatic133 is ready to take my job...unless she is an astronaut by then.<<br /><br />The lifetime issue is very interesting. Do you the Shuttles will remain as a fleet of three up to retirement, or is it more likely they'll retire in order (Discovery, then Atlantis, then Endeavour)?<br /><br />I know it's a different animal - with processing and OMM's affectively upgrading them up to scratch each time - but wasn't the plan to keep the shuttles going and then replace partly with the VentureStar? (Not that it will happen - VentureStar).<br /><br /> Chris