Shifting Shuttle Priorities

On August 15th, 1986, President Reagan announced that “except in situations where there were overriding national security, foreign policy or other reasons, the shuttle would no longer be used to launch commercial communication satellites.”

Check out chapter 15 of “Return to Flight” for more. You can read a web version here.

Pictured here are President Reagan, First Lady Nancy Reagan, as well as astronauts Ken Mattingly and Henry Hartsfield. They are seen in front of Columbia at the end of the STS-4 mission on July 4, 1982. Picture- Edwards Air Force Base History Office

Originally the Shuttle had been proposed as the “space truck” of the Space Transportation System. During the Nixon administration, the Space Transportation System was envisioned as a fleet of different space vehicles, designed to send humans and cargo into space.

The primary components of the Space Transportation System were: a space station, that could support up to 100 people. A shuttle, similar to the space shuttle for cargo and crew missions to LEO. A space tug that was chemically fueled which would allow for movement between Earth orbits and to lunar orbit. Finally, a nuclear-powered vehicle would use the NERVA engine to take astronauts and supplies everywhere from the earth and the moon to other planets. (More on the NERVA engine in the future)

STS-4 at touchdown alongside a NASA T-38. Picture- NASA

The only part of the Space Transportation System to survive the political and budgetary pressures during the years after Apollo was the shuttle component, hence the STS- notation for all shuttle flights.

The Challenger disaster forced NASA to reevaluate how it used the Space Shuttle. This quote from the Presidential Commission on the Space Shuttle Challenger Accident in 1986 summarizes the situation NASA was faced with.

“The nation’s reliance on the shuttle as its principal space launch capability created a relentless pressure on NASA to increase the flight rate … NASA must establish a flight rate that is consistent with its resources. “

A ban on non-governmental payloads for Shuttle flights meant that other rockets had to be used. Sadly, the high cost of a Shuttle flight meant that the vehicle wasn’t ever a good option for companies looking for a cost-effective way of reaching space. High costs coupled with long turnaround between flights kept the shuttle fleet flying at most four times a year.

Even with all of this, the Shuttle still holds a special place in my heart. How about you?