One day, Collins added, the shuttle would fly its last mission.
BBC: NEWS | Science/Nature | Shuttle crew reflect on crucial flight
And if NASA can't get the space shuttle to fly for four more years, the US is in a big hole in terms of human space flight because there's nothing to replace it coming along for about five more years.
For example, if Station experiences delays, the Shuttle does not fly, science payloads are on-hold, and some operations are deferred.
WHITEHOUSE: Jacob J. Lew Testimony to House Science Committee, 08/06/1998 | The White House
Well, if they get back to flying Atlantis and if they get back to flying Atlantis in September, which they dearly would like to do, they have to get the Discovery ready because the new rules say you have to have another shuttle ready to fly as a rescue mission.
Those could range from continuing to fly the space shuttle to moving forward with the Constellation programme without any changes, he said.
Vittori becomes the last international astronaut to fly aboard a shuttle.
They spent a lot of this mission--they delivered the cargo that they had to the space station, but they spent a lot of the mission just making sure that the shuttle itself was safe to fly.
No matter how upset people are about the telescope's demise, it is hard to see anyone taking responsibility for reversing the decision until the shuttle has demonstrated that it can fly safely at all.
By 2010, it also needs to have a successor to the shuttle, or one almost ready to fly.
Behnken has inherited the position at a time of transition for the astronaut corps, as NASA looks beyond its retired space shuttle program toward hiring U.S. companies to fly its crews on private spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS).
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After Atlantis touches down in Florida, it is unlikely to fly again - the White House wants to discontinue the entire shuttle programme.
Dr Patrick still hopes to fly again, but opportunities are currently constrained following the retirement of the shuttle.
So for five years after the shuttle's retirement in 2010, American astronauts will be dependent on Russia to fly them into orbit on their space capsule, Soyuz.
Mr. COWING: Well, you can average half a billion dollars for every shuttle flight, but there are some costs that are there regardless of whether they fly five flights a year or two, and it's about on the order of three or so billion dollars a year.
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