NASA has told the European Space Agency that the Space Shuttle will be retired by 30 September 2010, with 19 flights remaining.
An internal ESA report reveals that, to meet International Space Station (ISS) partner obligations, the US agency has told the Europeans that it plans to launch 19 Shuttle flights, including a Hubble Space Telescope repair mission, by the end of September 2010.
The new Shuttle flight sequence will mean that logistics flights are dropped in favour of launching almost all the agreed ISS modules.
The ESA report is based on a series of telephone conference briefings held on 27 September between ESA and NASA associate administrator for space operations, William Gerstenmaier.
“All main ISS elements will be launched, with the exception of the centrifuge accommodation module and the Russian solar power module,” says the ESA Shuttle Transportation System/ISS status report.
The Shuttle flight rearrangement will mean that Node 3, which was not scheduled to be launched until near the conclusion of the original 28-Shuttle flight ISS assembly mission sequence, will be in place by 2009 to ensure a six-crew ISS.
However, if Node 3 were not to be launched, its life-support systems could be housed in the US Laboratory module Destiny, with its scientific payloads transferred to NASA-allocated places in the European Columbus and Japanese Kibo modules.
ROB COPPINGER/LONDON
Source: Flight International
