NASA Ponders Extending Shuttle Flights

It looks as if Senator McCain's request to the President to delay the shuttle's early retirement has convinced NASA to take a second look at keeping their craft alive.

(Physorg.com) The e-mail obtained by The Orlando Sentinel describes NASA Administrator Michael Griffin's order for a study to determine if the shuttle could fly until 2015, when NASA's next-generation space platform is expected to be completed.

"We want to focus on helping bridge the gap of U.S. vehicles traveling to the ISS (International Space Station) as efficiently as possible," wrote John Coggeshall, manager of manifest and schedules at Johnson Space Center in Houston, in the e-mail sent Wednesday.

NASA officials confirmed the e-mail's authenticity, but said it was too soon to say what the study's reach would be.

NASA is still not entirely thrilled with the idea of flying the shuttle, and this "study" may be a way for them to politely prove that keeping the shuttle is not in America's best interest.

While the shuttle has benefited the agency in many areas (except for cost), it is time for the agency to pursue other paths (like building settlements on the Moon).



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