Our roads are flooded with vehicles like bus, auto, cars etc. Space is also flooded with space vehicles like spacecrafts, space shuttle etc. We dispose old vehicles. Now time has come to dispose old space shuttles also!

 What is a spacecraft?

A spacecraft is a machine designed for space flight. Spacecraft are used for a variety of purposes, including communications, earth observation, meteorology, navigation, planetary exploration and space tourism. So spacecraft is a general name for a vehicle that can be launched into space.

What is a Space Shuttle?

A space shuttle is a reusable spacecraft. A space shuttle is capable of traveling repeatedly between the Earth's surface and outer space carrying people or cargo. The space shuttle carries astronauts to space and back.

Space shuttle is designed by NASA and used for the Space Transportation System (STS) to move people, supplies and parts into space and back again. It also carries cargo, food etc to those astronauts who are continuously researching on Mars and moon in International Space Station (ISS). The station is expected to remain in operation until at least 2015, and likely 2020. So there is an uninterrupted human presence in space since the launch of ISS on 31 October 2000, a total of 9+ years.

Some NASA space Shuttle names :

There are six space shuttles designed by NASA. They are

1. Columbia (Launched on April 12 of 1981)
2. Challenger (Launched in 1982)
3. Discovery (Launched in 1983)
4. Atlantis (Launched in 1985)
5. Endeavor (Launched on 7^th May 1992)
6. Enterprise (Launched in 1977)

Enterprise was non-space-worthy and built only for testing purposes. It was used to test the docking systems. The Enterprise was never flown in space.

History of Space Shuttles

Though now America is the leading country in space related research and developments, but previous Soviet Union of Russia gets first place in the history of space related achievements. When technology was just baby stepping in the world, Soviet Russia had already launched the artificial satellite “Sputnik” into the space. And also Russia sent its scientist Mr Yuri Gagarin to the space. Thus On April 12, 1961 Yuri Gagarin became the first human to orbit Earth.

America thought of giving strong competition to Soviet Russia and also wanted to become the leader in space research. So America founded NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) in 1958. NASA designed Apollo satellite (called as Apollo program) in 1968 to land humans on the Moon and bring them safely back to Earth. Apollo satellite traveled to moon 6 times and 12 astronauts landed on the moon and came back. So cold war between America and Russia continued in space related issues also.

After the launch of Skylab and Apollo, NASA came up with the idea of a recyclable rocket plane that could carry a crew of people United States began detailed proposals for some sort of space transportation that could be reused. Several of these proposals reached the design and test stages. But people of USA and Govt were not wiling to support this. Because they had suffered from Vietnam War. So Govt was also reluctant to release the budget for Space related achievements. NASA had to convince both – People and the Government. After repeated attempts, NASA became successful in convincing the Govt. Govt agreed and released the fund for Shuttle program. So NASA began to design the shuttle with the help of its own scientists, other University scientists, researchers and Engineers. It took almost 20 years to develop a space shuttle. Because its design was complicated and also different parts are developed in different center. Later all parts were assembled in one center. It underwent many testing. First Space shuttle Columbia was launched on April 12 of 1981.

Retirement of Space shuttles:

The plan to retire the Space Shuttle by the end of 2010 was launched in January 2004 by President George W. Bush. The President directed NASA to use the Space Shuttle primarily to complete construction of the International Space Station (ISS) and then retire the system. In 2010, the Space Shuttle, after nearly 30 years of duty, will be retired from service. During its nearly one quarter century of service, the Space Shuttle has not only facilitated ground-breaking research which has given rise to countless technologies, but has also made great strides in making routine space flight, i.e. space tourism. Now only five space shuttle flights are remaining.

Reasons for Retirment :

So here one question arises - Why NASA will retire the Space Shuttles in 2010?

No longer need for such a services?

We can give two main reasons for this

1. Obsolete Technology : - The Space Shuttles are old. Over 30 years old, and NASA failed to develop a successor in that time. There have been two shuttle accidents in NASA history.

The January 1986 Challenger shuttle disaster occurred just after liftoff, when the spacecraft exploded and broke apart. The shuttle Columbia broke apart during re-entry on Feb. 1, 2003 due to heat shield damage. In all, 14 astronauts were killed. After each accident, NASA stood down from shuttle flight for two years to make safety changes.

To date, 131 shuttle missions – including Discovery's – have launched into space. The two failures in the program's history, the Challenger and Columbia tragedies, have called the career of the Shuttle into question. The Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB) came to the conclusion that because of the risks inherent in the original design of the Space Shuttle, because that design was based in many aspects on now-obsolete technologies, and because the Shuttle is now an aging system but still developmental in character, it is in the nation's interest to replace the Shuttle as soon as possible as the primary means for transporting humans to and from Earth orbit.

The Helium tanks inside the Shuttle are very old and the company that produced them no longer existing. The Helium is under high pressure and used for activating pneumatic valves or clearing lines in the main propulsion system. It also keeps the fuel tanks of the Shuttle under pressure so the liquids can enter a rocket engine. A bursting helium tank in the aft of the Shuttle would be devastating, like a cold explosion. No flames or fire, but the pure overpressure could rip the Shuttle into pieces.

The shuttle was supposed to last for 10 years; it's now going to last almost 30.

2. Lack of Money :

Maintenance cost of shuttles is much higher. The Space Shuttles are no true production spacecraft - they are prototypes that had been left flying, with a lot of money going into workarounds and fixes instead of a proper production version. They require a lot of maintenance already only for the many problems that would be better fixed on the drawing board.

So, there are many reasons to stop the Space Shuttle now. Also, the road to Low Earth Orbit is no longer as risky as it was, private companies can serve it well and do that. Private companies can also afford the development costs for such rockets already. It is really about time to get away from a complete government funded space flight to a space flight market.

What happens after retirement of Shuttles?

After the Shuttle, NASA may go back to the traditional model of space travel: capsules or other payloads lifted by expendable rockets. Otherwise they will have to rely on someone else. The most obvious candidate is Russia. ISS crewmembers will have to fly there on Russian "Soyuz" capsules, which have proven to be the most reliable space vehicles of the last 40 years. And also there is a chance of European and Japanese cargo ships will provide the station with food, fuel, and other supplies.

Meanwhile NASA is developing the project Constellation. It is a NASA program to create a new generation of spacecraft for human spaceflight, consisting primarily of the Ares I and Ares V launch vehicles, the Orion crew capsule, the Earth Departure Stage and the Altair lunar lander. These spacecraft will be capable of performing a variety of missions, from Space Station resupply to lunar landings.

Orion is a spacecraft design currently under development by the United States space agency NASA. Each Orion spacecraft will carry a crew of four to six astronauts, and will be launched by the Ares I, a launch vehicle also currently under development. Both Orion and Ares I are elements of NASA's Project Constellation, which plans to send human explorers back to the Moon by 2020, and then onward to Mars and other destinations in the solar system.

But the Orion/Ares system will not be ready for use until 2015. During the five-year gap between the shuttle's retirement and the debut of the new rocket, NASA and its international partners will have to hitch rides to the space station aboard Russian Soyuz spacecraft.

Space Shuttles will be kept in America’s museums. Still they remain as center of attraction in museums.

Recent Developments related to retirement of shuttles:

The Bush administration's deadline was the end of fiscal 2010, or September 30, 2010. The Obama administration has since told the space agency the deadline is the end of calendar 2010The Obama administration is considering whether it should go ahead with efforts to further explore the moon and Mars -- a plan initiated by the previous administration in 2005 -- or scale back and stay closer to Earth.

The retirement of the space shuttle fleet, had threatened thousands of jobs at Florida’s Kennedy Space Center, along with jobs in Texas, Alabama and Utah. 23,000 people are expected to lose jobs after shuttle retirement. That sum includes 9,000 "direct" space jobs and 14,000 "indirect" jobs at hotels, restaurants, retail stores and others that depend on activity at the space center. And also congressional elections are due in November. So keeping all this in mind, A U.S. Senate oversight committee unanimously passed a plan to postpone retirement of the space shuttle until 2015. So now NASA officials hope to keep the International Space Station flying until 2015, or possibly as long as 2020.

So what would be the final decision on retirement of NASA space shuttles? Only time can answer.