THE next generation space shuttle will be a safer and more independent craft than today’s model, NASA hopes. It will carry the crew in a separate orbiter module that can be blasted clear if the rocket stack malfunctions. And instead of dumping its spent rocket boosters in the ocean, the reusable first stage will fly off under jet power and land itself minutes after propelling the second stage to orbit.
Engineers in NASA’s Space Launch Initiative team said last week that they’re planning to test two new shuttle designs in 2006, selecting one for launch in 2012. But the current shuttle will remain in service until 2020. With the 1986 Challenger disaster in mind, one goal is to cut the odds of the crew being killed from the current 1 in 500 to 1 in 10,000. SLI manager Dennis Smith says that this can only be achieved by having a separate crew module.
NASA is considering 15 possible designs (see ). In most of them, the two booster stages and the crew’s powered orbiter module are all fitted with their own wings. After the first stage burns out, it will land autonomously, and in most designs the second stage will also return alone after it has delivered the crew’s module into orbit.
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