Submitted by DevilsRefugee t3_11r6ik6 in space
Pharisaeus t1_jcaecu7 wrote
Reply to comment by stefanSfermat in NASA wants new 'deorbit tug' to bring space station down in 2030 by DevilsRefugee
> Some parts? 🤣
Yes. Large part of the ISS was not launched on the Shuttle. Zarya, Zvezda, Pirs, Poisk, Nauka, Prichal were not. And Mir and recently Tiangong proved you don't need a Shuttle to construct a modular space station.
> the need for a general-purpose LEO utility vehicle
No such need ever existed, and history showed how stupid idea this was. It was bad as a launcher because you needed a crew, which made it extremely expensive and dangerous. It was also bad as a manned craft, because you had a huge vehicle with a tiny manned part. The only scenarios where it was useful was Hubble refurbishing and SpaceLab missions. Everything else, including ISS construction, could have been done much cheaper by regular rockets.
stefanSfermat t1_jcaf62k wrote
Yes, you could likely construct a house with an axe and nothing else. That doesn't mean a saw and other carpentry tools wouldn't be useful.
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