Ron Wanttaja wrote:
On Fri, 1 Apr 2005 22:31:18 -0800, "Richard Isakson"
wrote:

If you think the Shuttle isn't a military craft, you should try and
dig out
the spec mission that sized the payload bay.

The sad thing is, much of the shuttle requirements were based on
military
requirements...but the Air Force pulled out of the program in the
'80s,
including mothballing the brand-new Vandenberg shuttle launch
complex.


The weather at Vandenberg is often too cold to launch the
shuttle which may be a major reason why the facility there
was mothballed when the drometer problem was fully
appreciated. That, and there were problems with the
launch pad foundation.

The DOD only 'pulled out' in terms of infrastructure and
purchasing DOD-only shuttles. Military payloads are
routinely launched by the NASA shuttles. Previously,
NASA often benefitted from the use of ICBM boosters
for lauching satellites (and in the early years,
astronauts), but befor the shuttle, NASA support for
DOD was less commonplace and remains a sore point
among a lot of NASA civilian scientists.

I've no idea as to whom is subsidizing whom, in terms
of budget.

--

FF