"Absolutely. the ET is a large structure and it is almost empty in space.
That's why it tempted many to use it as a station."
It also weighs 66,000 lbs when empty:
http://seds.lpl.arizona.edu/ssa/docs/Space.Shuttle/et.shtml
When you consider that the ET is almost brought up to orbit and that the cheapest you can bring something into orbit is around $500-1000 per lb you have something which could be worth around +33 million which is currently being tossed away.
"I wonder if those who promote the idea realize how complicated it would be."
Yes they did:
http://www.vswap.com/fitch/text/et-orbit.htm
[unfortuately that link doesn't work when I tried it, but has been a lot of discussion and data on the various problems and solutions regarding using the ET]
"It was psychologically interesting, as it would enable the whole Shuttle stack to be reusable.
But, even then, we know reusable doesn't necessarily mean cheaper, for space related technology."
Yeah, think that has been shown with Shuttle itself- but it depends on how you do something and why you do something. You can waste a lot of effort recycling something, esp if you think that any recycling is good without regards to the actual economics involved.
-gb
Space/Science » in reply to Re: agreed
Re: agreed