Wednesday, February 22, 2006
Atlantis to be retired
Well it seems that NASA has finally put a timeline on the retirement of the shuttles. They are all past their design life so it is not really a surprise.
Atlantis will be the first of NASA's three space shuttles to be retired, most likely in 2008, as the shuttle program winds down in four years, a senior agency official said Tuesday. Atlantis' parts will be used by the remaining shuttles, Discovery and Endeavour, until the aging spacecraft are mothballed in 2010, shuttle program manager Wayne Hale told workers at the Kennedy Space Center last week. Atlantis, which began flying in 1985, as the fourth orbiter in the fleet launched from Kennedy Space Center, was chosen for retirement first since it was scheduled for maintenance, a process that could take two years.
The $3 billion shuttle likely will have four or five more flights to the international space station before retirement. Due to the extent of repairs Atlantis is slated for, it would be sidelined for most of the current shuttle program's lifespan even if not retired, a NASA spokesman said.
NASA has planned 17 more shuttle flights before the program ends in 2010. The next-generation vehicles are expected to be ready no later than 2014.
Atlantis will be the first of NASA's three space shuttles to be retired, most likely in 2008, as the shuttle program winds down in four years, a senior agency official said Tuesday. Atlantis' parts will be used by the remaining shuttles, Discovery and Endeavour, until the aging spacecraft are mothballed in 2010, shuttle program manager Wayne Hale told workers at the Kennedy Space Center last week. Atlantis, which began flying in 1985, as the fourth orbiter in the fleet launched from Kennedy Space Center, was chosen for retirement first since it was scheduled for maintenance, a process that could take two years.
The $3 billion shuttle likely will have four or five more flights to the international space station before retirement. Due to the extent of repairs Atlantis is slated for, it would be sidelined for most of the current shuttle program's lifespan even if not retired, a NASA spokesman said.
NASA has planned 17 more shuttle flights before the program ends in 2010. The next-generation vehicles are expected to be ready no later than 2014.
# posted by Morgan @ 6:29 AM 
