Space shuttle's legacy: Soaring in orbit and costs

The Associated Press By The Associated Press The Associated Press
on July 05, 2011 at 7:30 AM


george-h-w-bush-shuttle.jpgU.S. Vice President George H. Bush speaks with space shuttle astronauts in 1981.


Yet despite all that, there were some big achievements that weren't promised: major scientific advances, stunning photos of the cosmos, a high-flying vehicle of diplomacy that helped bring Cold War enemies closer, and something to brag about.

Former President George H.W. Bush, who oversaw the early flights, said the shuttle program "authored a truly inspiring chapter in the history of human exploration."

NASA's first space shuttle flight was in April 1981. The 135th and final launch is set for July 8. Once Atlantis lands at the end of a 12-day mission, it and the other two remaining shuttles are officially museum pieces -- more expensive than any paintings.




"But there is no embarrassment in setting the bar impossibly high and then failing to clear it," said former astronaut Duane Carey, who flew in 2002. "What matters is that we strived mightily to do so -- and we did strive mightily. The main legacy left by the shuttle program is that of a magnificent failure."

Of the five shuttles built, two were lost in fiery tragedies. The most shuttle flights taken in one year was nine -- far from the promised 50.


The shuttle's epitaph is "we tried," said Hans Mark, a former deputy NASA administrator who oversaw most of the first dozen launches.


But as a mistake it is one that paid off in wildly unexpected ways that weren't about money and reliability.

"The discoveries it enabled, the international cooperation it fostered and the knowledge it gained -- often at great human cost -- has also contributed in countless, important ways to humanity and our common progress," President Bush wrote The Associated Press in an email. Bush oversaw the program's early days as vice president, a job that has by tradition supervised NASA.


space-shuttle-columbia-2002.jpgSpace shuttle Columbia illuminates a cloud during its morning liftoff at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., on Mar 1, 2002.

The Hubble was not just launched from the shuttle -- it was repaired and upgraded five times by shuttle astronauts. They also captured and fixed satellites in orbit.


Like a real life version of the television show "Star Trek," the shuttle was a United Nations in space, carrying representatives of 16 other countries. The U.S. and Russia became close partners in space and Russian rocket scientists after the breakup of the Soviet Union found new employment. NASA's current boss said all that is not something that should be ignored. The shuttle also diversified space to make it seem more like Earth, sending the first American woman, the first African-American and teachers, lawmakers and even a former migrant farmworker into orbit.

"The space shuttle program reaffirmed, once again, American dominance in space and laid the foundation for the United States to continue its long-standing leadership beyond our home planet," NASA Administrator and former shuttle commander Charles Bolden wrote in an email. "The shuttle program evolved over its lifetime and gave us many firsts and many proud national moments, along with painful lessons."



When spaceships carry people, extra safety requirements add hefty expenses. Rockets that haul big pieces of equipment -- like station segments or a giant telescope -- require more power and fuel, which means more cost. The shuttle has both of those problems that escalate the price.


Seven astronauts perished when Challenger exploded about a minute after launch in 1986 and seven more died when Columbia burned up as it returned to Earth in 2003. One out of every 67 flights ended in death -- a fatality rate that would make the most ardent daredevil cringe.


Former astronaut and past NASA associate administrator Scott Horowitz said, "While the shuttle is the most magnificent engineering feat, its complexity and the naïve belief that it would be as safe as an airliner was its Achilles heel."



In 1971, President Nixon gave NASA only the shuttle. It had no place to go. The space station wasn't built until 1998.



The shuttle will likely go down in history as an anomaly of America's space program. The spacecraft before it were disposable capsules, like Apollo. And the designs for machines of the near future are also for the most part disposable capsules. That suggests that the 30 years of reusable shuttles that landed like airplanes were a diversion from the natural evolution of rocketry, said McCurdy.

It may be an anomaly, but astronauts call it an engineering marvel in both versatility and complexity. John Glenn, who flew in a Mercury capsule as well as the shuttle, called it "the perfect vehicle for its time."

He said like any pilot he'd prefer to fly the shuttle and called it a much smoother ride. But he said he understands why the future looks more like his Mercury capsules.

"As far as expense, simplification and cutting costs, the capsule is by far cheaper," the 89-year-old former senator said in a telephone interview from his Columbus, Ohio, office on Friday.

"The shuttle is an amazing piece of machinery," astronaut Stan Love said. "It blows away anything that can fly now or in the next 30 years."


Seth Borenstein, AP Science Writer