Why can't they make the Space Shuttle into a Commercial Airliner?

Question

I'm amazed with the design of the space shuttle, Why can't they make it into a Commercial Airliner or simillar?

Just curious..

Answer 1

The current shuttle fleet is very old, and, as you have probably read, has inherent risks due to its design. Secondly, as a lifting vehicle, it is not very efficient, (the only reason it is even used is because it is the only vehicle on earth capable of lifting the loads needed for its mission) so the cost of using it for passenger service would be very high.

So, your question may be better rephrased as "Why cant a shuttle-like vehicle be used for commercial purposes. It's not a bad idea, and such a vehicle is on the drawing board right now. I don't really know how soon it will actually hit the skies. I'm sure it is still many years away. The first generation of this concept will be for intercontinental travel. This "space plane" will take off much like an airliner does now. It will use its great engines, (and all of its fuel) to fly into space. It will do this very quickly, like the shuttle does now. Aimed properly, it will then glide down to earth, landing in some far part of the globe. It will make international travel very quick, with flights to the other side of the globe a matter of minutes.

Information about this and other projects can be found at the NASA site and space.com

Answer 2

A lot of things.

First of all, the biggest problem is reaching what's known as "escape velocity," or going fast enough to literally escape Earth's gravity. That alone requires an enormous amount of fuel, whether it is in solid or liquid form. The space shuttle, as I'm sure you're aware, uses a gigantic tank of liquid fuel to achieve this. The reusable craft that won the X-Prize took a shortcut: it used a larger plane to fly it up into the upper atmosphere (where there is less gravity, and thus less speed is needed, and thus less fuel is needed).

The cost of this fuel, plus other things (maintenance, etc.) that plague regular airlines, make the space shuttle completely impractical to use as a commercial airliner, unless the passengers are willing to spend millions for tickets. Combine this with the aging frame of the shuttle (30+ years old) and the risk involved in such a commercial venture (which would require a very expensive insurance policy!), and it simply becomes not worth doing.

Answer 3

The space shuttle is a white elephant, something slapped together with all the latest technology we had to make a reusable spacecraft during the space race with the Soviet Union during the Cold War. The recent problems with the foam insulation falling off, as well as the thousands of heat-absorbing tiles on the plane's belly, would make commercial use too cost-prohibitive, not to mention the careful maitnenance and safety checks that are required for each flight. These barriers to commercial space flight are what inspired the X-prize, the winner of which is being used in the startup service Virgin Galactic to provide commercial sub-orbital space flights beginning in 2009.

Answer 4

well they are in the works of doing something like that. Virgin has a contest to see who can make a "space shuttle" the cheapest and fastest. They are also working on engines that use less fuel with the same efficiency

Answer 5

For one thing it would take such an immense amount of fuel it would make the price of the ticket comparable to the price of buying your own jet. Also, imagine taxiing behind all those jet engines; if they decided to launch it traditionally. However if they launched it like they do now just hope people can walk straight down. There would definitely be a chance of your carry-on shifting in flight then.

Answer 6

Haven't you read of the two Shuttle disasters? That's about 2% of all Shuttle missions.
On every lift-off, protective tiles fall off. Also foam insulation.
Would you care to take that kind of risk? Are you really tired of living?
Not for me -- I want a tried-and-proven aircraft strapped to my butt.

Answer 7

Because there's not much demand for flights going from the swamps of Florida (KSC) to the high desert of California (EAFB) that takes 10-14 days.

You can fly from MCO to LAX non-stop and then rent a car and thereby do the same trip in 8 hours.

Answer 8

because you know all the raining astronouts have to do before they even get into a space shuttle, all the passengers ould have to do the same


and anyway where would they take people? to the moon?

Answer 9

Considering how many millions of dollars it takes to lauch that thing only once, only Bill Gates would be able to afford a ticket. It is not a very profitable option.

Answer 10

Fast and dirty answer: Not enough seating capacity.
Reality check answer: What's the point?
Practical answer: The tickets would be too expensive.
Pessimists answer: The safety record sucks.