JS: Atlantis is the third orbiter in the fleet..

KM: Discovery was second and is the fleet leader right now with 30 flights, but with a (maintenance and modification standdown) it probably won't fly again until sometime in February, 2004.

(Working in Atlantis' engine compartment, left.)

KM: Endeavour was the new kid on the block..first flew in May of 1992..and right now, it has 18 flights.

KM:Columbia will get back on the stage here in January and it's like 28-29 flights. So the manifest drives the order. But it's different in the space station era because at present time, only three vehicles are space station capable (Atlantis, Discovery, Endeavour) because of performance.

JS: Columbia is pretty heavy. Would it ever be capable of going to station?

KM: There're plans in the books looking at that, maybe doing some mods. One of the things we don't have on 102 (Columbia) is the external air lock. And there are some weight saving things we could do, but overall I think we're 7,000 pounds heavier than the other orbiters, so that's how much performance you'd be losing.

JS: One thing was all the test equipment built into the structure.

KM: Absolutely. And the thermal protection system..we have thermal blankets on the newer orbiters and Columbia has a lot of the heavier, denser tiles.

JS: You see a benefit in a small, adjunct shuttle for quick access to orbit?

KM: Certainly. And obviously, the turnaround time and the labor involved with these vehicles, it's very expensive..but it's the only thing we've got going nowadays and if we can effectively create a new generation space vehicle, that would be the way to go..but it will be really expensive.

(Right. Atlantis fully loaded with cargo for International Space Station. Payload Bay Doors about to be closed for flight. NASA photo.)

JS: If you had a wish book and you could have anything you want, what would it be?

KM: I wish somebody would say 'Here's the money, we're gonna go to the moon again, and once we've proven we can do that successfully again, let's look at the next milestone and go on to Mars.' It's just a sad state of affairs; we talk to a lot of school children nowadays and the latest rage (among them) is 'well, the US never went to the moon.' I'll tell you one thing, (laughs) with all the old-timers here, if we didn't go to the moon, nobody could keep that a secret in a place this big.

JS: I was here. I know you went SOMEplace.

KM: And to see old astronauts like John Young, who's still in the program..to get an opportunity to listen to him..and it's just our heritage is great and we're the future and part of our role is to talk to the youth of the country and get them interested in space.

JS: How'd you feel when you watched the launch the other day and were able to look up under the shuttle's chin and watch it rise off the ground?

KM: (Laughs) It was fantastic and I'll tell you what: when the rockets light at T-zero, you know you're going somewhere and all the hard months of work..to see it lift off, it was quite a sight.

JS: An emotional experience?

KM: Oh, very much so..very much so.

Ed: To see the launch pictures Kelvin was talking about, keep on going to the next page.

Click for space photo album.