The Cosmodrone IRL *imgs* (Destiny)

by Anton P. Nym (aka Steve) , London, Ontario, Canada, Monday, June 15, 2015, 14:24 (3689 days ago) @ stabbim

It's interesting how similar their shuttle looks to the American version. I wonder if that's because they intentionally copied ours (not a terrible idea, since that design was already known to work), or if they started on their own and that just happened to be the optimal design for a reusable orbiter, given the technology available at the time. Probably the former.

Mostly column "A", but a bit of "B". Wikipedia entry

-- Steve also regrets the abandonment, but in light of the Shuttle's not quite meeting its initial expectations* it was a reasonable decision to make.

* Shuttle alas never did realise the "cheap access" goal, because it took so much effort to refurbish an orbiter after every mission that the labour and part replacement costs ate up the savings over an expendable launcher. Pity, but them's the breaks.