Autonomous space shuttle

The continued assembly and operation of the International Space Station (ISS) is the cornerstone within NASA\´s overall strategic plan. As indicated in NASA\´s Integrated Space Transportation Plan (ISTP), the International Space Station requires shuttle to fly through at least the middle of the next decade to complete assembly of the station, provide crew transport, and to provide heavy lift up and down mass capability. There is a new emphasis for the need to achieve greater efficiency and safety in transporting crews to and from the space station. One concept under discussion to better fulfill this role of a heavy lift carrier, is the transformation of the shuttle to an "unpiloted" autonomous system. This concept would eliminate the loss of crew risk, while providing a substantial increase in payload to orbit capability. When addressing the transformation to an unpiloted shuttle system, numerous hardware, software and procedural changes will be required to both flight and ground systems. Converting the shuttle fleet to an autonomous system will be challenging and expensive. Projected implementation cost estimates for an autonomous shuttle system would be in the low $ billions, depending on the degree of modification and system redundancy required. Although an autonomous shuttle eliminates the risk for loss of crew, the risk to a loss of vehicle or mission success could potentially be increased. Previous shuttle experience in space has demonstrated that the human presence provides an invaluable capability to successfully react to any situation that may arise. This important capability cannot be easily "automated" or replaced.