The Cyrus Space System stretched space shuttle Aviation Week

[bobbymike]

http://sitelife.aviationweek.com/ver1.0/Content/images/store/7/9/f7302da6-9b76-4116-89d1-9394cfd199d5.Large.jpg

SPACE SHUTTLE and STRETCHED SPACE SHUTTLE and MAGLEV LAUNCHER
by Daniel S Sample
THE CYRUS SPACE SYSTEM is a natural extension of SPACE SHUTTLE architecture and it is critical that the remaining four (4) SPACE SHUTTLES be "mothballed" completely until the CYRUS SPACE SYSTEM begins R&D

 

[XP67_Moonbat]

Sounds interesting. But...it looks like you would lose most of the Shuttle's payload capacity thanks to the big fuel tank in the payload bay. I'm not even sure there's enough fuel in there to reach orbit.

But, with that itty-bitty luggage rack payload up top, it just doesn't seem very economical to me.

It seems to me like this system would take ages to develop, and at a rididculous cost. The drawing claims it will use the "current Space Shuttle transport to the Moon and Mars".

But it looks to me like there would be so much rework and modification involved with the second-stage Orbiter, never mind the development of that big flyback first-stage. Or the launch track.

This concept may as well be scrapped for a completely new design altogether. Not a snowball's chance that it could economically re-use anything from the current Shuttle.

For that amount of development time and money, might as well just go with a new design from scratch. Hell, might as well just keep the actual Shuttle program going for a few more years.

Plus I'm not sure which universe this Cyrus is from, but if IIRC, there's only three Shuttles left, not counting Enterprise.

Here's their website: http://www.cyrus-space-system.com/cyrus-space-design_04-08-09_003.htm

Very imaginative ideas and I'll leave it at that. But the way Saint O's been getting stingy on space money lately, I doubt this will be built anytime soon.