Russia's recent invasion of Georgia seems to have an increasing influence on U.S. space policy. Such are the tangled ways of politics. Three Republican senators-- McCain of Arizona, Hutchison of Texas, and Vitter of Louisiana-- have sent President Bush a letter urging him to refrain from any action that wou;d preclude shuttles flying after 2010. Between the shuttle retirement and the first flight of Orion, as things stand now, the only way American astronauts will be able to reach orbit will be aboard a Russian Soyuz. An increasingly aggressive Russia may make that politically difficult.
On the outside side, Semator Obama has expressed support for at least one additional shuttle mission, and his space policy advisors seem to be urging him to go further than that to close the flight gap.
One nasty little question isn't really brought up, though: In trying to squeeze more flights out of spaceships that are pushing thirty years old, what happens if we lose another orbiter, and another crew?
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