What are the immediate implications for the space program of Saturdays disaster?
JK: Following the precedent of the Challenger disaster in 1986, it’s unlikely that NASA will undertake any further shuttle missions or any other manned space flights for the next two years. One immediate problem, though, is the International Space Station, which currently has a crew of three on board. They might consider one further flight to bring that crew home the other option would be for them to return aboard a Russian Soyuz craft, which isn’t the most comfortable or the safest ride. Beyond that, however, the space station is likely to be left unoccupied for a long time. NASA won’t want to use the shuttle again until it can establish the cause of today’s accident, and fix it. Now that we’ve lost two shuttles out of a fleet of five, it’s even conceivable that the shuttle won’t fly again. The shuttle was built as a space truck, and then the International Space Station was built to give it something to do. Both programs are likely to suffer as a result of this disaster.
