Shuttle orbiter lifetime: 100 flights or 10 years

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Topic: Shuttle orbiter lifetime: 100 flights or 10 years

Hart Sastrowardoyo
Member

Posts: 1626
From: Toms River, NJ,USA
Registered: Aug 2000

posted May 06, 2012 08:04 AM

Eileen Collins has been quoted as saying that the shuttle was good for either 100 missions or 10 years.

I've heard the 100 missions lifetime before (and am still curious as to how they derived it — 100 missions of average seven day flight? 100 liftoffs and landings?) but this is the first I've heard of the shuttle lifetime being 10 years.

Obviously the person to ask is Collins, but anybody have any insight as to how either lifetime was arrived at?

rmacd
New Member

Posts: 3
From:
Registered: May 2012

posted May 06, 2012 01:44 PM

I've heard the 100 flights but never heard of the 10 years. In the 70's NASA hoped to have about 12 shuttle flights a year, that said depending on the orbiter(s) they use the 100 misisons could be achevied in or around 10 years. Although this 12 missions a year never happened due to processing times when the orbiters were on the ground

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