The Nation - News from Oct. 10, 1986
A study citing limited resources said that NASA should not regularly schedule more than 11 to 13 shuttle launchings a year, even with four orbiters, while eight to 10 flights were possible with the current three-shuttle fleet. The National Research Council’s report, requested by Congress and paid for by NASA, concluded that 13 flights a year is the reasonable maximum number, although up to 15 missions could be carried out in a “surge,” assuming relatively “simple payloads and flight plans.” NASA is planning five flights in 1988.
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