Russia hopes U.S. to extend shuttle operations
Reuters
Russia hopes the United States will extend the deadline to retire its space shuttles beyond 2011 and has heard unofficially it is possible, the head of Russia’s space agency was quoted as saying on Friday.
The U.S. space agency NASA plans six more missions by its fleet of aging space shuttles by late next year or early 2011 after the construction of the $100 billion International Space Station (ISS) is completed. The shuttles will then be retired.
But the head of Roscosmos, Russia’s space agency, said he would prefer to see further shuttle missions to the Space Station, now in orbit 360 km (225 miles) above Earth.
“From some sources we have learned that it is possible to extend the life of the shuttle beyond 2011,” Roscosmos chief Anatoly Perminov was quoted by RIA news agency as saying. Reuters was not invited to the briefing.
Read the full story.
Similar Posts:
- Is Laliberte the Last ISS Space Tourist for Years?
- Russia Set New World Record for Launches in 2009, Sees Funding Increase
- Russia Wants to Jack Up the Price of a Soyuz Ride to ISS
- Roskosmos to Propose Building New Space Station
- Perminov: ISS Tourism Dependent Upon U.S. Shuttle Decision
Very desirable!
Perhaps the shuttle will be funded by ISS international partners, I guess we will find out presently ….
A replacement shuttle could be obtained in the same way.
Is there any reason why space flight and lunar settlement needs to be a national pursuit, an international program is much more advantageous for the leading US developmental, technological and commercial interests.