Re: NASA gets SGI 2048-core Itanium 2 supercomputer

Bob Koehler wrote:
Other than making airplane style landings what do you think the
Space Shuttle can do that Constellation can't?


It can bring huge cargo wich humans than then install with the canadian made manipulator arm (which celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2007).

It can bring BACK large items to earth for analysis and safe disposal.

Consider the failed CMG on the station (fancy flywheels used to change/keep the station's orientation). They were able to bring it back to earth on teh shuttle to analyse why it failed. That is a capability that will not be possible with constellation.

When studying Mir, the USA realised that one of the biggest problems were the smaller hatches as well as inability to return equipment that was no longer needed which ended up cluttering the station.

To this end, the USA segment of the space station was designed with the large CBM hatches, and the MPLM "containers" that allow full racks of equipment and large items to be flown up by shuttle, berthed with the arm to the station's large hatches and then have the contents moved. The excess equipment can then be moved inside the MPLM which is then returned to earth and reused.

CEV will have the abillity to dock the apollo capssule to the small station hatches. Exchange crews and a very minimal amount of cargo.

CEV will have cargo launcher capability of development continues. But I have not heard yet of hard plans for NASA to develop or purchase the guidance systems needed for a cargo vehicle to approach the station and either dock automatically, or station keep near enough the station to be grabbed by the station's arm.

It is one thing to be able to launch large satellites (something humankind already does routinely) but another to be able to bring stuff to an orbiting facility and dock/berth to it without damaging it.

Sure, it *can* be done, the russians have been doing it with their progress vehicles for over a decade. The european ATV should be able to do it next year (but it docks to the small russian ports). The question is whether the US government will have the stamina to continue development of that project after the first weekend camping trip to the moon was done (or even just cancel the whole kit and caboodle after the first cost overruns/delays.)
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