The space station can not be completed without the shuttle. It is unclear if it can even continue to be used indefinitely without the shuttle. Even if the shuttle flies again it will be nearly impossible to make the 2010 deadline for completing.
The Hubble Space Telescope will not see another shuttle, no matter the political will. By the time the shuttle is flying again and considered safe enough to fly anywhere but the station it will be too late for the Hubble.
The Vision for the Exploration of Space now needs a new time line and a new approach. If the shuttle is permanently grounded and the station is canceled the VSE can be greatly accelerated.
The Shuttle Derived Heavy Lift has been dealt a major blow. If we can not fly the shuttle because of the External tank, it makes no sense to use it in the next generation of space transportation. The other part of the shuttle architecture that was going to be maintained was the Solid Rocket Boosters, these caused the loss of the Challenger, it has always been highly questionable to launch humans with solid fueled rockets. The Shuttle hardware is 1970’s technology. The External Tank and the Solid rocket Boosters were the result of compromises and were not anyone’s first choice. NASA should go back to the drawing board for a new heavy lift vehicle, start with a blank page using 21st century technology and lessons learned from all previous launch vehicles. While keeping in mind that this vehicle will carry everything to develop of the Moon and explore Mars.


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