Whither, Atlantis?

She was the fourth space shuttle to fly for NASA... and it looks like she'll be the first one to be retired. Aero-News has learned the space agency is looking to retire the shuttle Atlantis in 2008, and use it as a spare parts donor for the remaining orbiters up to the final shuttle mission in 2010.

CBS News reports shuttle program manager Wayne Hale told a meeting at Kennedy Space Center Friday that instead of putting Atlantis through a major OMDP (orbiter maintenance down period) scheduled for 2008, it makes more sense to stop flying the ship then. Instead, it could be used to provide parts for Discovery and Endeavour.

Each orbiter is expected to only fly five missions apiece (give or take) in the next four years. OMDPs take upwards of a year to complete -- which would mean the new, improved Atlantis would only fly one or two missions before the fleet is retired after a 2008 overhaul.

With NASA looking to save funds any way it can to put towards the future CEV program, overhauling Atlantis simply doesn't add up.

Under the new plan, Atlantis will fly her five missions between now and 2008, and then be retired. The two remaining shuttles, Discovery and Endeavour, will fill out the rest of the planned mission schedule until they, too, are decommissioned -- and Atlantis can provide backup parts, as needed.

"Discovery just came out of OMDP and Endeavour is just about to come out of OMDP," said Hale. "So it looks like the right thing to do is not to put Atlantis through another OMDP, which would get it ready to go fly maybe just at the very end, in 2010, but rather use it was a parts donor, if that's the word, for the other vehicles."

Hale added the requests are already coming in from a variety of parties interested in displaying the orbiter after its retirement.

"I'm not giving anybody anything until we're all agreed the station is complete and the shuttle's job is done. In the sense that we're talking about mothballing, I'm not sure that's the term I'd use."

Atlantis first flew in October 1985, and was originally to be the final shuttle built. After the 1986 loss of the Challenger, however, NASA was granted funds to build a fifth shuttle, Endeavour. She last flew in October 2002 (above right and below), on her sixth ISS supply/construction mission in a row.

Before the ISS was completed, Atlantis flew to Mir seven consecutive times -- beginning in June 1995 with the first shuttle docking with the Russian station.

FMI: www.nasa.gov