QUESTION:
Could the Space Shuttle go to Mars?

ANSWER from Mark on June 21, 1997:
The space shuttle can't go the the moon in its present design because it
cannot hold enough fuel.  The shuttle was designed to go to low earth
orbit, and that's all the fuel its tanks can hold.  It's possible that
we could design a smaller spacecraft to fit inside the shuttle's cargo
bay which could go the rest of the way from low earth orbit to the moon,
and we are looking at this possibility.  It would only take about four
days for the trip.