Do some research to find out what took the space shuttle's will take their place. What are the advantages to the replacement system? Is it safer? Less expensive? What happened to the retired shuttles?

Answer 1

After the retirement of the Space Shuttle program in 2011, NASA began working on a new system to transport astronauts to and from the International Space Station (ISS). The replacement system is the Commercial Crew Program, which features spacecraft developed by private companies such as SpaceX and Boeing.

One of the main advantages of the Commercial Crew Program is that it allows NASA to utilize private sector innovation and expertise, potentially reducing costs compared to the government-run Shuttle program. Additionally, the new spacecraft, such as SpaceX's Crew Dragon and Boeing's CST-100 Starliner, are designed to be safer and more efficient than the Space Shuttle.

The Commercial Crew Program has also reduced NASA's reliance on Russian Soyuz spacecraft for transporting astronauts to the ISS, providing more flexibility and reliability for crewed missions. The overall goal of the program is to make access to space more affordable and accessible for both government and commercial purposes.

As for the retired Space Shuttles, they are now on display in museums across the United States. The shuttles Atlantis, Discovery, and Endeavour are at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida, the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington D.C., and the California Science Center in Los Angeles, respectively. The fourth shuttle, Enterprise, is on display at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York City.