NASA Starts Planning to Retire Space Shuttle

Within a year or so, Mr. Kostelnik said, NASA will have to start the shuttle retirement process in earnest, moving toward canceling contracts for shuttle-related supplies, decommissioning some sites and redirecting or eliminating some of the work force.
"Transitioning these resources is a very complex problem," he said. He added that after reviewing assets and work needs, NASA should begin within a year to terminate some contracts for items like the shuttle's external fuel tank and start planning how to mothball equipment and structures used by the shuttle.
It would be premature to end shuttle activities until NASA determines how many more shuttle flights are needed to complete the space station and how many flights can be made each year before the planned end of the program in 2010, Mr. Kostelnik said.