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Ok back to the topic and with the most recent delays due to changing out the Engine cutout sensor for the launch of Discovery from may to july there is also a delay of Atlantis sts-117 as well. For it had been planned to be the four shuttle to the ISS in 2006 with the new NET (No Earlier Than) date being January 18, 2007.
STS-117 (ISS Assembly flight 13A) will carry the S3/S4 truss to the ISS and will be the 28th mission undertaken by Atlantis. This is to have no effect on future shuttle missions.
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Some more on the causes for delay...
[url=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11878713/]Mishaps spark shuttle safety reviews
Center director orders brief shutdown after spaceships suffer dents[/url]
Kennedy Space Center employees returned to work Friday with orders to be more careful a day after a stand down was ordered following a spate of recent accidents.
James Kennedy, the space center’s director, ordered work stopped for two hours Thursday while he addressed nearly 15,000 employees on safety issues over closed-circuit television.
He warned that a major accident could derail NASA’s plans to complete the international space station and begin exploring the moon and then Mars.
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The Consolidated Launch Manifest is indicating 2 launches in 2007 (June 28, 2007, Dec. 2007) With the years 2008 and 2009 having the obiters unnamed
for which ship will actually flyat this time.
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Change , Change, change... Atlantis gains Hubble servicing swansong
Shuttle Atlantis has been handed a flagship finale, following the confirmation that she will now be the orbiter that will now conduct the Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission, with the launch date slipping to September 11, 2008.
The decision to swap STS-125 - known as HSM-04 - from Discovery to Atlantis was confirmed by the January 8 launch schedule document, which sees a widescale change to the shuttle mission manifest.
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I wonder what kind of leveling off of jobs we can expect when it does retire. The current Kennedy Space Center's 17,100-person work force now includes about 2,100 civil servants and 15,000 contractors with Job reduction estimates range from 5,000 to 8,000.
NASA aims to fly 13 to 15 shuttle missions to finish building and outfitting the International Space Station before a presidential deadline in September 2010. A mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope also is to be launched before the shuttle fleet is retired.
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While the actions to keep employees in critical paths are a must so as to not allow for increased risk to the end flights of shuttle I would agree but really giving them bonuses??
Bonus Alternatives Mulled For Shuttle Workers
The main difference between the shuttle and the Titan IV retirement is that NASA hopes to transition much of its current shuttle and space station work forces over to work on new systems such as the Orion and Ares.
Those tools include giving the work force time off to get new training, as well as giving them the latitude to begin working on the design of new exploration systems where their spaceflight expertise can be brought to bear.
This sort makes me a little upset in that I have been out of work for a year and with little hope of a good paying job without moving or of getting training in unrelated fields from that of the last employer. :evil:
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Ok which is it, retired or not.
Atlantis avoids early retirement - will keep flying to 2010
NASA managers have decided to manifest shuttle orbiter Atlantis with missions through to 2010, cancelling her previously planned retirement in 2008.
Information gained from STS-122 - the next flight of Atlantis - processing documentation, along with the latest FAWG (Flight Assignment Working Group) manifests, confirm the addition of two further missions for the orbiter, to follow after STS-122 and her flagship STS-125 mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope.
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Looking more and more that Atlantis flying to 2010, Hubble slightly delayed - manifest re-aligned
Given the number of possible flight in a year and that chance of more difficulties in not only reading the shuttles but also of weather conditions that could make it not possible to fly at the rate of 6 launches it only makes sense to keep it on line to aid with the work load.
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Strip 'em down, that's what I say.
How many spacecraft have ended up at the Smithsonian institute with a flight still left in them?
Use what is abundant and build to last
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