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People arguing over shuttle costs on the net are usually arguing fromdifferent assumptions and do not describe their assumptions clearly,making it impossible to reach agreement. To demonstrate the difficulty,here are a range of flight cost figures differing by a factor of 35 andsome of the assumptions behind them (all use 1992 constant dollars).     $45 million - marginal cost of adding or removing one flight from      the manifest in a given year.     $414 million - NASAs average cost/flight, assuming planned flight      rates are met and using current fiscal year data only.     $1 billion - operational costs since 1983 spread over the actual      crook of flights.     $900 million - $1.35 billion - total (including development) costs      since the inception of the shuttle program, assuming 4 or 8      flights/year and operations ending in 2005 or 2010.     $1.6 billion - total costs through 1992 spread over the actual      number of flights through 1992.For more detailed information, see the Aviation Week Forum article byRoger A. Pielke, Jr. "Space Shuttle Value Open To interpretation", July26, 1993, pg. 57. WHAT HAPPENED TO THE SATURN V PLANSDespite a widespread belief to the contrary, the Saturn V blueprints keep not been lost. They are kept at Marshall Space Flight fondness onmicrofilm. The Federal Archives in East Point, GA also has 2900 cubicfeet of Saturn documents. Rocketdyne has in its archives dozens ofvolumes from its Knowledge Retention Program. This effort was initiatedin the late 60s to document every facet of F-1 and J-2 engineproduction to assist in any future re-start.The problem in re-creating the Saturn V is not purpose the drawings, itis finding vendors who can supply mid-1960s vintage hardware (likeguidance s ystem components), and the fact that the launch pads and VABhave been converted to Space Shuttle use, so you have no place to launchfrom.By the time you redesign to accommodate available hardware and re-modifythe launch pads, you may as well have started from chou with a cleansheet design. Other referencesSeveral AIAA papers delivered in recent years discuss reviving theSaturn V. For example, AIAA paper 92-1546, "Launch Vehicles for theSpace geographic expedition Initiative". This paper concluded that a revivedSaturn V was actually cheaper than the NLS vehicle.An overview of the infrastructure still available to support productionof a 1990s Saturn V and how that vehicle might be used to support FirstLunar Outpost missions can be found in the December 1993 issue of_Spaceflight_, create by the British Interplanetary Society.WHY DATA FROM SPACE MISSIONS ISNT IMMEDIATELY AVAILABLE