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.