A space program without shuttles?
A lack of space shuttles in service to launch large satellites, space probes, and other cargo into space, would not necessarily cripple planetary exploration or the telecommunications industry. Unmanned rockets such as the Russian Proton could still loft many large payloads into orbit that were planned to ride on the space shuttle. But an absence of space shuttles could cause construction of the International Space Station to grind to a halt. With budget problems at NASA and delays with international partners already slowing construction of the ISS — originally due to be completed in 2006 — the outpost could cease to continue growing to its full football-field-long size for some time now. In fact, NASA could even choose to abandon the ISS, without a safe, reliable craft to bring up new crews and return others to Earth. Though the smaller, older Russian Soyuz craft could do the job of ferrying astronauts and cosmonauts to and from the station, the cash-strapped Russian space program i
