So, after the latest round of "What if the space shuttle was actually built?" threads, I decided to post this thread, because I don't think that the shuttle would actually be a good deal. Yes, it would be "reusable", but as Zurbin and many others have shown, even if Shuttle were to fly dozens of times a year, the necessary replacement parts would cost quite a bit. Also,since the shuttle was designed to do it all, all that weight for a combined crew carrier and cargo carrier that has wings would be quite a bit- big enough to require a massive fuel tank and even then, the payload would be limited by the weight of the shuttle itself and the payload bay size. And don't get me started on how the crew basically can't bail out if something goes wrong during the ascent to orbit, because building a crew cabin that can eject was too expensive. I have to agree with Zurbin that a small crew shuttle and a separate heavy-lift cargo launcher that gradually is changed to become reusable over time would be a much better idea then the big shuttle that NASA wanted to build before Nixon cancelled that idea.
OOC: This is from an ATL where Nixon cancels the shuttle and NASA is left doing Skylab and Spacelab missions in Earth orbit using a Apollo-Titan IIIM combination.
OOC: This is from an ATL where Nixon cancels the shuttle and NASA is left doing Skylab and Spacelab missions in Earth orbit using a Apollo-Titan IIIM combination.