14 DAY TRIAL // During a hearing that took place on Capitol Hill on October 12, lawmakers were told that they may very well quit the notion of having the newly-retired American space shuttles brought back to active service. A panel of experts said that it's finally time for everyone to move on.
Members of the panel said that politicians who are currently calling out for the orbiters to be reinstated are doing more harm than good, redirecting attention from the real issues NASA is faced with in order to chase after an impossibility.
These conclusions belong to members of the NASA Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel, which was chaired by Joseph Dryer. The experts analyze a large number of aspects pertaining to the possible return of the shuttles to regular flight.
One of the things they reminded lawmakers was that the decision to shut down the Space Shuttle Program originates in 2004, when the Bush Administration first started considering it, Space reports.
The 30-year program was finally brought to a halt this July, after Atlantis landed its last flight – the STS-135 mission to the International Space Station. All of the spacecraft are now to be display in museums in California, New York, Florida, and Washington, DC.
As for bringing the shuttles back after all the changes that have been already made, “this would have been a great research question three or perhaps four years ago,” Joseph Dyer told lawmakers.
“But it's not a good question, or a practical question, at this time,” he told members of the House of Representatives' Committee on Science, Space and Technology, which handles funding for NASA, NOAA, NIST, NIH, NSF and other organizations.
According to Dyer, producing a single external fuel tank for an orbiter would take about two years from the moment the decision to restart the SSP is made. The tanks were made at the NASA Michoud Assembly Facility, but only one third of the original workforce remains.
In addition, a large number of components that used to be on the spacecraft were removed, such as their engines. Many systems containing toxic chemical were also taken apart, and some parts are now being analyzed for potential uses on new spacecraft.
Furthermore, NASA has already signed over ownership of Endeavour to the California Science Center, in Los Angeles. Atlantis will be displayed at the NASA Kennedy Space Center (KSC) Visitors Complex, whereas Discovery will make its way to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, in Washington, DC.