Shuttle repair costs 'out of this world'

[Dale61]

NASA officials say after moving more than four tons of supplies and completing three spacewalks, more technical woes lurk on the horizon, including a squeaky timing belt and a possible blown gasket in one of the vessel's powerful V-8,000,000 engines.

While NASA engineers remain optimistic that Discovery did not "throw a rod," such a condition would increase the likelihood that the crew would need to radio AAA for assistance during the return trip.

Another spacewalk repair mission is being planned for tomorrow, involving a 58-foot robotic Craftsman socket wrench operated by a grimy-faced spaceship mechanic named Rusty. Including parts and labor, the job shouldn't cost US taxpayers more than, let's say, 18 million bucks.

Among the many other maintenance challenges facing the shuttle: If Discovery travels approximately 18,000 miles per hour, then to avoid unnecessary wear and tear the crew should change the oil roughly every 10 minutes. However, this is not practical due to the high cost of petroleum and the fact that it is difficult to store 50,000 quarts of Pennzoil 10W-40,000,000 in the shuttle's cramped payload.

[HAL]

I think some might be included.