In its Wednesday review, Russian officials said they expect to decide whether to delay the launch by 10 hours to put it in the same orbital plane as the new station.

CNN: Russia reluctant to let Mir die

Sharing the same orbital plane would make is much easier to transfer equipment from Mir, although NASA, the leading partner in the new station, had not planned to use Mir transplants.

CNN: Russia reluctant to let Mir die

The agency has already spent billions of dollars on the National Aerospace Plane, the X-33, X-34, X-37, X-38 and the Orbital Space Plane.

FORBES: Magazine Article

Latest example of NASA bloated spending: The agency has already spent billions of dollars on the National Aerospace Plane, the X-33, X-34, X-37, X-38 and the Orbital Space Plane.

FORBES: Magazine Article

This appears to be the mindset of the Air Force regarding its experimental X-37B space plane, the billion-dollar robotic vehicle's orbital flight being extended beyond the 270 days it was initially designed for.

ENGADGET: Air Force X-37B space plane books additional time on orbital cruise, orders another margarita