why can the shuttle and concord not be made again instead of grounding them indefinetly in the near future?

Answer 1

maintenance costs.....while state of the art in their time, both are extremely expensive to maintain. a newer design and construction techmiques would be a better option if this type of aircraft / spacecraft were to be used today in case of concorde or built new in case of shuttle. the concorde was one of the most expensive aircraft flying to maintain and that in part was the reason they were grounded. the extensive refurbishments required as well as ongoing per hour costs to maintain the fleet were just not cost effective

Answer 2

There are better ways to achieve what the shuttle does and it has been very expensive on crew all things considered, a terrible safety record.

Concorde was really a military design, so a lot of the development costs of things like the Olympus engines were swallowed on other jobs. There was a lot of elegant and careful engineering in Concorde, the result was a supersonic aircraft with acceptable economy, even the SR71 had to be refueled in the middle of a transatlantic trip. In the end it broke even on operating costs, Branson was willing to take it on but BA wouldn't give them up.

There are several supersonic transports on the drawing board right now. I don't know if they will survive the property crash and global recession though. The other issue for supersonic aircraft is that there aren't many routes where you can fly them, unless the efforts to decrease the sonic boom have been successful.

So it's not that it can't be done, it may even be that it has been done, there are rumors and the technology certainly exists.

Answer 3

They are both just too danged expensive. Not practical.

The Concorde was a dinosaur almost from the time it first appeared. It used 4x the fuel of a regular jetliner and it was so expensive to operate that only really rich people could afford to fly on it. It was more a public relations gimmick than a useful transportation option. And it could only fly at supersonic speeds over the ocean.

The Space Shuttle likewise was just a very expensive alternative. 99% of what we do in space doesn't require humans to go along. Not only can robots do the job at a small fraction of the cost, but safer as well. We were told a reusable spacecraft would save lots of money but in fact it costs MUCH more than single-use disposable spacecraft.

Answer 4

The same reasons that manufactures keep remaking cars. The Model T got you from A to Z, but newer models can now do it faster, safer, and more efficiently. I'm sure they will come up with a new shuttle to ferry things into space. I have read that most space exploration in the future will launch from the space station. They'll use a better designed shuttle to get supplies and people back and forth to station.

Answer 5

The shuttle, like the concord, is a waste of money. The shuttle's only pupose is to service the space station. The space station's only purpose is so the shuttle will have some place to go.