“The end of the Shuttle era requires the establishment of a Common Transportation Policy among all ISS partners”
On 5 January, Simonetta Di Pippo, ESA Director of Human Spaceflight was invited to participate in the Forum “The Space Shuttle Era: Major Results and the Way Ahead in Human Space Flight”.
The forum was part of the 49th AIAA (American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics) Aerospace Sciences Meeting, a major multidisciplinary event for aerospace scientists and engineers from around the world and unfolded at the presence of NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden who had delivered a key note speech beforehand.
The Space Shuttle was the world's first reusable spacecraft, and the first spacecraft in history that could carry large satellites and payloads both to and from orbit. Ms. Di Pippo highlighted the importance of the Shuttle in the European adventure in human spaceflight: “there have been 28 missions with ESA astronauts on board the Shuttle and it has marked the beginning of the European adventure in human spaceflight and perhaps its capacity in terms of crew has allowed human spaceflight to grow in Europe to the point we are today.”
The Shuttle has always been ‘the’ means for human spaceflight. In order to make it safer, more reliable and more capable, the spacecraft has been continually evolving with literally thousands of major and minor modifications to the original design. The assembly of the Space Station would have not been possible without the versatility and the capacity of the Shuttle.
With the end of the Shuttle programme there will be a transition phase as far as space transportation for human spaceflight and exploration is concerned. “The establishment of a Common Transportation Policy is required among all ISS partners to provide a sustainable and robust element of a long term exploration scenario. This framework should facilitate synergies and developments at international level while individual nations’ capabilities are developed in a coordinated way” said Simonetta Di Pippo.
The panel of the Forum counted also with the presence of Franklin Chang R. Diaz, President and CEO of Ad Astra Rocket Company and former NASA astronaut; Frank L. Culbertson, Jr. Senior Vice President of Orbital Sciences Corporation, Captain, USN (Ret.) and former NASA astronaut; Jeff Greason, President of XCOR and member of Augustine Panel on Future Human Spaceflight Plans; N. Wayne Hale Jr. Director of Human Spaceflight for Special Aerospace Services of Boulder, CO, and former NASA Space Shuttle Program Manager; and Glynn S. Lunney, former Vice President of United Space Alliance and former NASA Manager and Flight Director (Ret.). The panel was moderated by David Thompson, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Orbital Sciences Corporation and General Chair of Aerospace Sciences Meeting.