Rick,
There are so many good reasons for such a vehicle. Since the shuttles are all retired, we have no way to get supplies to our people in the space station, or get people into space without relying on the Russians or someone else, as far as we the public know. A smaller vehicle like this is so much cheaper to build, maintain, operate, and reuse than the shuttles. This vehicle can launch and retrieve spy satellites, so they can be updated with the latest technology without having to build a whole new space platform. All of the steering and power systems for the satellites are good, its just the technology that needs updated, especially the communications, so hostile foreign govenments can't hack into the communications and control of our satellites. Being able to retrieve the plutonium power supply from satellites is extremely important from hazardous materials and potential terrorism points of view.
Having a remote control vehicle with no people on board allows more payload weight that would have been required for life support, etc. No crew enclosure, toilets, oxygen containers etc. All that space can be used for cargo, and as one graphic calls it (experiment space). There are things that can be done in zero gravity that can't be done on earth, so miniature factories could be mounted in this area that could create new chemicals, drugs, and valuable materials. Perfectly spherical ball bearings can be made in zero gravity, that can't be made on earth.
We also need to get these types of experiments off the Space Station due to politics and other nation's astronauts stealing technology. In 1990 I did design work on the first American space instrument to be launched on a Soviet space platform. Our government was so paranoid that the Soviets would steal our technology, that they used decades old computer logic on the pc boards, and then welded the boards in metal containers, and took photos and x-rays of the welds. So, if we can control every aspect of the space vehicle and its cargo, all that paranoia is reduced, and we get a much faster turn around time on the trips to space. Just my 2 cents.
