Why not modify the orbiters so that they could fly attached to the ISS for extended periods of time, and leave one up there to provide boost
I'm under the impression that that *was*, in fact, one of the shuttles' original design goals; being able to provide boost for the orbiting space station. Not ISS, however; for *Skylab*. Skylab was launched knowing full well that it's orbit would decay, but by that time the Shuttles would be around to boost it. Of course, wrangling over shuttle specs took so long that they were not built in time...
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momijizukamori
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Date: 2005-07-28 06:33 pm (UTC)I'm under the impression that that *was*, in fact, one of the shuttles' original design goals; being able to provide boost for the orbiting space station. Not ISS, however; for *Skylab*. Skylab was launched knowing full well that it's orbit would decay, but by that time the Shuttles would be around to boost it. Of course, wrangling over shuttle specs took so long that they were not built in time...