it seems like a logistical error. why didnt they put the atlantis on 39b. it seems that would of protected the orion schedule more without affecting the regular shuttle mission.

The way I read it: there were two shuttle missions scheduled almost simultaneously. If 39B is the one they will upgrade to accommodate Orion, and there is now only one shuttle mission in the near future, they can have 39B empty and continue the upgrades. Unless, of course, they are going to upgrade 39A for Orion as well. In that case, I see your point.

I am very excited to see the next phase in our space exploration, either way.

This blog would be much less painful if the images were shrunk to a 200×350 thumbnail before publishing, rather than including a 4000×3000 pixel megabyte image in each post, then having the browser shrink it down to a thousandth of the size after downloading it.

uTube; “Deirdre Flint The Metric System”
Astronauts are very brave, or very smart ?
Would you ride in a car designed with slugs ?
Absolutely not ! Or, how extreme the discount ?

NASA has 2 pads from which it can launch shuttles: 39A and 39B. 39A is used as the primary launch pad, but with NASA needing a shuttle ready to launch in case of a problem with the main flight it uses 39B as the launch pad for that flight.

Since Atlantis’ mission was pushed back and the orbiter rolled back to the VAB, Endeavour was moved from 39B to 39A in preparation for it’s own flght. At that time Discovery (most likley) will be rolled out to 39B as the possible rescue flight if needed.

Awesome picture!! Love the rainbow!!

i thought this article was about billionaire contractors. boo.

Given the history of flights they need to focus on Orion.

The real space race is between India and China.
Tofu or Curry, Fried or Steamed Rice ?

everyone has it in their head that orion will be so much safer than the shuttle but if managment had listened challenger and columbia accidents would have been prevented. orion has the same risk for an accident the shuttle is getting the blame for everything because its their way to retire it easily in the publics eves.

The shuttles are old and the government has turned its back on technology. It’s way past due for a new ride into space and the Orion should take priority over everything else.

It’s sad that NASA has been so underfunded that it is starting to become an organization completing their work with relics.

It’s interesting to note how the (conversely) advanced, Glide-home winged shuttle design was once and for all lost to it’s predecessor, a time proven Missile and Payload design not too different from the Nazi V2 and the launch vehicles that were used in the Gemini and Apollo programs.
The russian R7 Rocket launched the soviet sputnik 51 years ago and today still hauls Russian Cosmonauts, American Astronauts and wealthy space tourists into orbit.

Technology wise, To me it is almost as sad as retiring the Concord. On the other hand, Safety prevails. I really hope Orion would prove to be a safe, efficient system that could put the US back on the map again !

I think it says a lot about the current state of our space program to have a photograph of two shuttles side by side getting prepped for launch. It also says a lot that both the original missions are scrubbed, they’re moving the shuttles, and only one will be launching. Nevertheless I think we can remain cautiously optimistic that interest in space will probably not wane any time in the near future given the amount of attention starting to come from the private sector.