In what is likely to be the final attempt to close the minimum five year gap between the current shuttle retirement date and debuting of Ares/Orion manned flight capability, NASA has presented an expansive shuttle extension study to lawmakers within the past couple of days. The study outlines the costs, risks, benefits and impacts for adding shuttle flights to expand the manifest to 2012 or 2015.

Shuttle Extension still a possibility:

Although a number of layoffs have already begun in shuttle related areas, extension remains a possibility, even though the upcoming release of the next NASA budget on Thursday will not include any language that reflects the intent to pursue either of the two extension options.

This is due to the budget submission only being the first step of the process, where the President proposes, and the Congress disposes. They key decision point will come later in the budget process, which ultimately will decide the forward path for not only the United States’ dominance in space, but also the fate of large section of the space program’s workforce.

That key decision will relate to additional funding, as opposed to the status of the Constellation schedule due to numerous assessments beng undertaken.

The “Final” Study:

Presented to lawmakers on Friday night, the NASA extension study - titled “Impacts of Shuttle Extension. Pursuant to Section 611(e) of the NASA Authorization Act of 2008″ - has been late in arriving at the halls of power in Washington, DC, but impresses with its depth of content and objectivity.

Prefaced by an Executive Summary - which mirrors the language of former NASA administrator Mike Griffin, who was firmly against extending the operational life of the shuttle program past 2010, the study opens by citing safety concerns and impacts to the Constellation Program.

“It is important to note that Shuttle extension would require several billion dollars in additional funding above what is currently in the FY 2009 budget runout to avoid delaying IOC (Initial Operational Capability) of the Ares I/Orion vehicle,” noted the Executive Summary of the study, which has been acquired by L2.

“Otherwise, the gap between the two capabilities would simply be shifted out, not shortened, delaying the development of a unique domestic capability for both ISS crew transport and rescue and exploration missions beyond low-Earth orbit.” (More)

May 3rd, 2009 by Chris Bergin at SpaceFlight.com See the entire article at this site.