Newsgroups: sci.space.shuttle
Path: utzoo!henry
From: henry@zoo.toronto.edu (Henry Spencer)
Subject: Re: Can A Shuttle Fly Higher???
Message-ID: <1991Jan31.171831.21050@zoo.toronto.edu>
Organization: U of Toronto Zoology
References: <6931.27a81aec@cc.curtin.edu.au>
Date: Thu, 31 Jan 1991 17:18:31 GMT

In article <6931.27a81aec@cc.curtin.edu.au> tlijy@cc.curtin.edu.au writes:
>Space shuttle can only fly upto 500-800 km high. It is not possible for it
>to recover or to repair any geostationary satellites. Is it because shuttle
>does not have enough fuel or is it because of some other technical
>problems for stationing space shuttle in such high altitude?

There are various minor problems, but the big one is simply lack of fuel.
The original plan was that the Space Tug was going to deal with this
problem, so it was not necessary to design the shuttle orbiter with a
high-orbit capability.  (This was the right solution in any case, because
it is silly and pointless to lug wings, tiles, large nonrestartable engines,
and all the other heavy paraphernalia of Earth-to-orbit flight into a higher
orbit.)  Of course, then the Space Tug got cancelled...
-- 
If the Space Shuttle was the answer,   | Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology
what was the question?                 |  henry@zoo.toronto.edu   utzoo!henry
