Atlantis launch successful; successor by 2013

Lincoln Russell 9 Jun, 2007 at 3:35pm ET Article published in Tech

The first shuttle launch of the year was successful, and Atlantis is now orbiting the Earth. It is due to return on June 19 after docking with the International Space Station.

The shuttles are planned to make 15-16 more flights between now and 2010, when they will be retired. The next generation of spacecraft is due to be ready by 2013.

Comments

9 Jun 2007 ~ 8:43pm Jengo I hope the new shuttles are a lot more efficient, cause right now the current shuttles SUCK

if only they would use the alien technology they have to make better ones.

I recommend you all watch: "UFO: The greatest story ever denied"

That movie will turn you into a believer.
10 Jun 2007 ~ 12:04am Leonardo

I hope the new shuttles are a lot more efficient, cause right now the current shuttles SUCK

Well yes, considering the shuttle program technology was developed in the '70s and that the first shuttle flew over 25 years ago.
10 Jun 2007 ~ 6:45am Thrax What's really astonishing is that we're still one of the few countries that's booted a man into space on our own power and money, while other countries are hoping to do that by 2010 or 2015.
10 Jun 2007 ~ 10:46am RWB We won't be using shuttles next, it's gonna be back to the past.... capsules. But bigger and supposedly better. The shuttles despite being made and designed long ago are nothing like what they were designed to be like, from what I understand they had to cut back on all kinds of cool ****. Lowest bidder type situation?

I say whatever works... but perhaps the shuttles were ahead of their time? Hopefully these new shuttles being that they are technology that has been plucked from the Apollo era and made better, faster, and cheaper will help us get further into space and quicker. We should have been to Mars and had colonies on the Moon by now damn it! And just where the hell is my hover car?!
10 Jun 2007 ~ 12:08pm Qeldroma

RWB wrote:

We won't be using shuttles next, it's gonna be back to the past.... capsules. But bigger and supposedly better.

Yes- I'm indirectly involved with the Orion program and CEV and can tell you that the game right now is to get payload into space and a shuttle is more vehicle than deliverable, in-space useful tonnage. There are NDAs as to the details since much is still board work (to prevent misinformation), but that is the game plan of this program.