The United States Space Shuttle program developed by NASA has undoubtedly awakened the imagination and rekindled the flames of space exploration in mankind. It was a spacecraft that could be partially reused and that could fly into low Earth orbit.
But after 135 flights between 1981 and 2011, launching dozens of satellites, interplanetary probes, the Hubble Space Telescope, and participating in the construction of the International Space Station, the US canceled the space shuttle program.
Why did NASA retire the space shuttles? The decision cost the United States the inability to launch its own astronauts into orbit from 2011 to 2020, when SpaceX’s Crew Dragon managed to get four crew members to the International Space Station.
30th Anniversary Space Shuttle Mission
Introduced to the public in 1972 as the “space truck”, NASA’s goal was to build a reusable high-speed shuttle capable of carrying people and cargo to low Earth orbit. It was also supposed to be used to develop a space station, and then replaced by a new generation ship.
But plans to build an American space station turned into international space station, joint work of NASA (USA), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA (Japan), ESA (Europe) and CSA (Canada). The changes resulted in long periods of delay and consequently an expansion of the space shuttle program.
NASA planned to end shuttle flights in 2010 after the STS-132 mission. But after the transfer of the last two flights to 2011, they decided to leave it. It even led to discussion in Congress about a larger budget and an extension of the program. Unsuccessfully.
Finally, on July 21, 2011, the space shuttle Atlantis landed at the Kennedy Space Station at Cape Canaveral, Florida (USA), which was the last flight of the STS-135 program.
To date, he has not been replaced. And all of NASA’s efforts to launch the space shuttle program have been delayed by up to five years.
Why did the US cancel the space shuttle program?
Contrary to what many believe, accidents Challenger in 1986 and in Colombia in 2003, although they played a decisive role in the decision, they were not the only reason for the termination of the program. A series of unfulfilled promises related to the space shuttle intervened, which never came true. Many of these expectations originated around the time plans for the Space Shuttle began, when the United States was still flying astronauts to the moon.
At the time, the program was planned with a much higher budget and much more ambitious goals. But as the shuttle’s first test flight approaches using the prototype businessthe reality loomed: the costs would be downright crazy.
1. Budget
The average budget for each shuttle launch was about $450 million. Significantly more than originally planned during the program planning phase. NASA’s goal was to keep space travel long enough to make it a normal activity. But operating costs were so high that they could never be reduced sufficiently.
In addition, the theory was that the space shuttle would end the era of disposable rockets. In practice, this has never happened: it has always been much cheaper to send things – and even people – into space in the traditional way, that is, using rockets. This continues to this day, with the exception of SpaceX, which found a way to reuse them.
2. Calendar and launch frequency
The sheer fantasy of the shuttle’s original launch schedule also played a role. The original plan was to achieve high spin, meaning that the time between landing and takeoff of the next shuttle was short. In fact, the shortest time achieved by NASA was 54 days, and the average is much higher. Especially after the tragedy with the Challenger, when there were an average of 88 days between launches.
The harsh reality is that the verification, transportation and logistics processes associated with each launch have been grueling. One of the weaknesses of the program, in terms of timing and safety, was the hotplates at the bottom of the craft needed to re-enter the atmosphere. They turned out to be much more fragile than originally thought, and required inspection. individual after the spacecraft has landed.
Each tile is unique, so it was not possible to replace one with another that was in stock. An exact replacement had to be made. This required time and huge sums of money.
The plan was also to have the space shuttle always take off and land at Cape Canaveral in Florida, which almost never happened. Many times the shuttle landed in Texas and had to be transported for the next launch at the Kennedy Space Center using a modified Boeing 747 aircraft, further adding to the cost and turnaround time.
Fewer launches meant fewer flights, which reduced the actual utility of the space shuttle and the possibility of capitalizing on the program to extend its lifespan.
3. Security
And finally, yes, safety. What at some point in the mid-1980s came to be considered routine in both American society and government turned out not to be so after the disaster. Challenger in 1986. Serious design flaws in the ship and a significant number of negligences in the construction process were revealed, especially in the search for reducing unforeseen exorbitant costs.
17 years later, in 2003, with the collapse Colombia During its re-entry, the worst fears of the US government, NASA, and any program enthusiast materialized. As mundane as it may sound, launching a space shuttle is an extremely complex process and much more dangerous than anyone imagined. In both cases, all crews were killed.
In a speech by George W. Bush in 2004, the process of refining the space shuttle program was announced. He didn’t mention the future of the space program, the next generation of shuttles, or any other way to get people into space.
This forced NASA to rely on the Russian space program to launch people and objects into space. Between 2011 and 2020, every time an American astronaut traveled to the International Space Station, he did so on a Soyuz rocket. The landscape has changed since SpaceX demonstrated it could send people into space using Crew Dragon.
Are there any plans for a new NASA space shuttle?
NASA has the Artemis program with which they want to send a man to the moon in 2025. This will be the first time the United States has achieved this since Apollo 17 in 1972. As part of these efforts, a space launch system is being created. is being developed (or SLS for its abbreviation in English, Space launch system), which in turn is related to the canceled Constellation project. This is a space exploration shuttle that will replace the space shuttle.
Other program component Artemis this is a ship Oriondeveloped by Lockheed Martin, although its service module is operated by the European Space Agency, which in turn transferred its development to Airbus.
The big advantage of the Orion is its ability to support a crew of four beyond low Earth orbit. They can live up to 21 days completely autonomously and up to 6 months if moored to another ship or station.
The problem is that the first launch of the SLS was delayed at least 16 times. At the same time, private initiatives to go into space, to reach the Moon and even Mars, are becoming more and more numerous, achieving ever greater success. A threat to the future of NASA space exploration.
Source: Hiper Textual
