Weather forecast delays shuttle's arrival to NYC

NEW YORK (AP) — The space shuttle Enterprise's scheduled arrival in New York City has been pushed back because of possible bad weather.

NASA says Monday's planned arrival of the shuttle has been postponed "until further notice."

The Enterprise is being brought to the city where it has a new permanent home waiting at the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum.

NASA managers are monitoring weather forecasts and will reschedule the shuttle's flight as soon as possible.

The plan is to fly the shuttle atop a carrier aircraft to New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport. It will be moved by barge to the Intrepid museum for public display.

The museum is at a decommissioned aircraft carrier moored off Manhattan. It's been making room for the shuttle on its flight deck.

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2 NASA Space Shuttles Meet Nose-to-Nose (SPACE.com)

Two NASA space shuttles, each on the road to retirement, posed nose-to-nose Thursday (Aug. 11) while switching places at the space agency's Florida spaceport.  

To stage the maneuver, NASA rolled Discovery out of the giant Vehicle Assembly Building at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida and moved it to a hangar-like building called the Orbiter Processing Facility-1, or OPF-1. Meanwhile, the shuttle Endeavour (which was already inside the hangar) was moved out and over to the massive VAB.  

"Endeavour and Discovery switched locations — a shuttle shuffle," Kennedy Space Center spokesman Allard Beutel told SPACE.com. "It's just a storage thing, is what it comes down to — we have three shuttles and two locations." [Images: Two Shuttles Meet Nose to Nose]

When the two spacecraft passed one another on the same road, space shuttle shutterbugs went wild. The result: Never-before-seen photos of two-thirds of NASA's shuttle fleet in the same place at the same time.

"We've never had two shuttles pass each other to go to two separate locations," Beutel said. "This was the first time we've ever done this."

The two space shuttles, along with their sibling Atlantis, are being readied for retired life at museums now that NASA has finished flying the orbiters.

Thursday's double-shuttle move will allow technicians to work on Discovery inside the OPF-1 in preparation for shipping it to the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum's Udvar-Hazy Center outside Washington, D.C., around April 2012.

Work is also ongoing inside the nearby Orbiter Processing Facility-2, where Atlantis is being prepped for its retirement home at the Kennedy Space Center Visitors Center, down the road.

Atlantis was the last shuttle to fly; it landed July 21, finishing the 135th and final mission of the 30-year space shuttle program. Atlantis is due to travel almost seven miles to the Visitors Center in early 2013.

For the time being, Endeavour will rest dormant inside the VAB, which was where NASA stacked orbiters with their external tanks and solid rocket boosters in preparation for launch. Sometime next summer Endeavour will travel across the country atop a special Boeing 747 jet to the California Science Center in Los Angeles, where it will live out its days.

NASA named the three recipients of the flown shuttles earlier this year, crushing the hopes of about 20 other museums that had lobbied to host an orbiter. New York's Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum will also get a shuttle, the test vehicle Enterprise (currently housed at the Smithsonian), which never made it to space.

Before Discovery, Endeavour and Atlantis can be put on display, they must be processed to remove all hazardous parts and materials, especially any residual rocket fuel lingering in the Forward Reaction Control System and the Orbital Maneuvering Systems Engines.

Those systems have been removed and sent to the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico for intensive cleaning. Once they are safe, they'll be shipped back and reinstalled on the orbiters before they are sent to museums.

"The entire system is completely cleaned out so there's not even a modicum of toxic chemicals left, so 20 years from now, someone standing under a shuttle doesn't get dripped on," Beutel said.

You can follow SPACE.com senior writer Clara Moskowitz on Twitter @ClaraMoskowitz. Follow SPACE.com for the latest in space science and exploration news on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.

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Two of NASA's space shuttles meet nose-to-nose (AP)

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – NASA's retired space shuttles are trading places.

In a rare nose-to-nose encounter, Discovery and Endeavour met outside the shuttle hangar Thursday at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Discovery moved into the hangar and Endeavour went to the Vehicle Assembly Building.

The switch was necessary for NASA to continue preparing both spaceships for their future homes. Discovery will head next spring to a Virginia hangar belonging to the Smithsonian Institution. Endeavour will then be transported to the California Science Center in Los Angeles.

Atlantis — which recently completed the last shuttle flight — will remain at Kennedy for public display.

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NASA Veterans Plea to Keep the Space Shuttles Flying (ContributorNetwork)

On the eve of the last flight of the space shuttle ever, a group of men whose names define the history of the civil space program, spanning both the Apollo and shuttle eras, have published an open letter calling for the retention of the shuttle fleet.

The arguments presented by the group, which include Apollo Moonwalkers, former space shuttle pilots, and NASA flight controllers, are well presented.

"The Space Shuttle fleet is the only spacecraft, now operating or under development, that is equipped with the airlocks, life support supplies and robotic arm needed to support the required two-person spacewalking repair crews. We believe the Space Shuttle fleet should be kept in service to provide the capability of independent repair spacewalks in the event that the International Space Station is crippled by a systems failure or accident. The Space Shuttles would also be available to support one or two logistics and science missions per year, provide unmatched capacity to return components and scientific experiments to Earth (with low gravitational loads on crew and cargo during reentry) and extend the reliability of space station operations with a Service Life Extension Program.

"The capability of the Space Shuttles to provide the independent repair spacewalks, critical for restoring operations on a disabled ISS, would also be vital for protecting the ISS cargo and crew transport business of the emerging commercial space industry. Keeping the shuttle fleet in service would also comply with a new, internationally accepted flight criteria that we believe should be established: Any object placed in orbit that is too large for an uncontrolled reentry must have a spacecraft available to support independent EVA repairs."

The group recommends that the decommissioning of the space shuttles be halted to allow for a study ascertaining what it would take to allow the shuttles to keep flying. They also suggest that the last shuttle flight be delayed to allow for the construction of more spare parts, such as shuttle main fuel tanks, that would allow for a continuation of the space shuttle program. They finally suggest that cost sharing arrangements be initiated among the space station partners for such an effort.

There have been studies in the past to allow a two flight a year regime by a reduced space shuttle fleet to fill the "space launch gap" between the now scheduled end of the space shuttle program and the presumed beginning of commercial crew operations later in this decade.

Reconstituting the supply chain and support infrastructure for the space shuttles would be a daunting task. It would be a doable task, if there were money to pay for it. That is the sticking point. It would cost an enormous amount of money to continue the space shuttle program that frankly is not likely to materialize.

The original plan for the Constellation program, now cancelled by the Obama administration, was to partly pay for it with the savings wrought by cancelling the shuttle program. The space flight gap at the time of the decision seemed manageable. But funding shortfalls and technical problems have expanded the gap wide enough so that the lack of a space shuttle and, indeed, the lack of any American controlled access to space has become a clear and present danger.

Unfortunately a lack of leadership from NASA and the Obama administration means that the gap is not likely to be closed; it might, in fact, widen if the commercial crew program encounters problems. Short of an unprecedented effort by the Obama administration and the Congress to deal with the problem, the gap and all of its inherent dangers will remain.

Mark R. Whittington is the author of Children of Apollo and The Last Moonwalker. He has written on space subjects for a variety of periodicals, including The Houston Chronicle, The Washington Post, USA Today, the L.A. Times, and The Weekly Standard.

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John Glenn: Keep U.S. space shuttles flying

By Marcia Dunn, Associated PressCAPE CANAVERAL, Florida — Mercury astronaut John Glenn, now 88, wants NASA's space shuttles to keep flying until their replacement is ready.Glenn joined the national debate Monday over America's future in space and became the latest ex-astronaut to speak out on the matter. He issued a nine-page statement in which he questioned the decision to retire the shuttle fleet and rely on Russia to take astronauts to the International Space Station.

"We have a vehicle here, why throw it away? It's working well," the first American to orbit Earth said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press.

Glenn said he's against paying the Russians $55.8 million per person to fly U.S. astronauts to the space station and back. That's the price for a single ticket starting in 2013; right now, it's costing NASA $26.3 million and will jump to $51 million next year.

Glenn doesn't believe the general public realizes what's happening on the space front.

"Going to Russia and being, in effect, under control of Russia for our space program just doesn't sit right with me, and I don't think it sits well with the American people, or won't, either," said Glenn, a former U.S. senator who rode the shuttle into orbit in 1998 at age 77. He turns 89 next month.

Glenn said little, if any, money will be saved by canceling the shuttle program, considering all the millions of dollars going to Russia for rocket rides. At least two shuttle flights a year could keep the station going and the work force employed until something new comes along, he said.

The former astronaut wonders what will happen if there's an accident and Soyuz rockets are grounded. He supposes the space station — a $100 billion investment — would have to be abandoned. He also worries scientific research at the station will take a hit if experiments have to be launched from Russia and have no way of getting back to Earth in bulk.

President George W. Bush made the decision to retire the shuttles and retarget the moon, six years ago in the wake of the Columbia tragedy. President Barack Obama is holding on to the shuttle shutdown, while killing the moon effort.

Only two shuttle missions remain on the official lineup; the second almost certainly will be delayed into early next year. NASA is hoping the White House will add an extra flight next summer before ending the 30-year shuttle program.

Democratic Glenn supports Obama's plan, announced earlier this year, to keep the space station going until 2020 and to give up on a moon base for now. But the original Mercury 7 astronaut said the nation needs a rocketship capable of lifting heavy payloads — whether it's part of NASA's Constellation program or something else — if astronauts are ever to reach asteroids and Mars.

Private companies, meanwhile, interested in carrying astronauts back and forth to the space station need to first prove their capability and reliability, Glenn noted. "I'm very leery of this rush to commercialization," he said.

Glenn said he waited to go public because he thought "people would see the wisdom" of keeping the shuttle going.

"If we're going to do anything, it has to be done pretty quick," he said.

Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Guidelines: You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the "Report Abuse" button to make a difference. Read more.

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John Glenn: Keep U.S. space shuttles flying

By Marcia Dunn, Associated PressCAPE CANAVERAL, Florida — Mercury astronaut John Glenn, now 88, wants NASA's space shuttles to keep flying until their replacement is ready.Glenn joined the national debate Monday over America's future in space and became the latest ex-astronaut to speak out on the matter. He issued a nine-page statement in which he questioned the decision to retire the shuttle fleet and rely on Russia to take astronauts to the International Space Station.

"We have a vehicle here, why throw it away? It's working well," the first American to orbit Earth said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press.

Glenn said he's against paying the Russians $55.8 million per person to fly U.S. astronauts to the space station and back. That's the price for a single ticket starting in 2013; right now, it's costing NASA $26.3 million and will jump to $51 million next year.

Glenn doesn't believe the general public realizes what's happening on the space front.

"Going to Russia and being, in effect, under control of Russia for our space program just doesn't sit right with me, and I don't think it sits well with the American people, or won't, either," said Glenn, a former U.S. senator who rode the shuttle into orbit in 1998 at age 77. He turns 89 next month.

Glenn said little, if any, money will be saved by canceling the shuttle program, considering all the millions of dollars going to Russia for rocket rides. At least two shuttle flights a year could keep the station going and the work force employed until something new comes along, he said.

The former astronaut wonders what will happen if there's an accident and Soyuz rockets are grounded. He supposes the space station — a $100 billion investment — would have to be abandoned. He also worries scientific research at the station will take a hit if experiments have to be launched from Russia and have no way of getting back to Earth in bulk.

President George W. Bush made the decision to retire the shuttles and retarget the moon, six years ago in the wake of the Columbia tragedy. President Barack Obama is holding on to the shuttle shutdown, while killing the moon effort.

Only two shuttle missions remain on the official lineup; the second almost certainly will be delayed into early next year. NASA is hoping the White House will add an extra flight next summer before ending the 30-year shuttle program.

Democratic Glenn supports Obama's plan, announced earlier this year, to keep the space station going until 2020 and to give up on a moon base for now. But the original Mercury 7 astronaut said the nation needs a rocketship capable of lifting heavy payloads — whether it's part of NASA's Constellation program or something else — if astronauts are ever to reach asteroids and Mars.

Private companies, meanwhile, interested in carrying astronauts back and forth to the space station need to first prove their capability and reliability, Glenn noted. "I'm very leery of this rush to commercialization," he said.

Glenn said he waited to go public because he thought "people would see the wisdom" of keeping the shuttle going.

"If we're going to do anything, it has to be done pretty quick," he said.

Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Guidelines: You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the "Report Abuse" button to make a difference. Read more.

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