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NASA did operate the STS throughout the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s though, which landed and re-used, albeit expensively, the orbital space-plane component.
by grkvlt 10y ago
NASA did operate the STS throughout the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s though, which landed and re-used, albeit expensively, the orbital space-plane component.
- stcredzero 10y agoLetting bulk cylindrical metal shells slam into the ocean is a bit less sophisticated than tail landing a liquid fueled rocket. Landing the orbiter was a technical tour de force, but the effort went into increasing cross-range, taking away from the economics.