The last shuttle launch has been on all the news stories today. Many of the stories have been nostalgic about the shuttle program. Others interviewed people who had come to see the launch. One talked about the economic impact of all the discoveries made through the shuttle missions.
I remember how it was originally sold as a space truck that was supposed to go up regularly with minimum maintenance. The difficulties of the system proved to be be much more difficult than anyone expected.
I wonder if our society will every invest the resources to do a massive project like this again. There has been talk about a private sector rocket, but what company would every put so many resources into such a risky project?
This evening one of the crazier radio talk show hosts ( I won't mention his name.) claimed that the end of the shuttle program was a plot by President Obama and his allies to subvert the U.S.A.'s space dominance. Renting space on the Russian Soyuz until there is another American rocket is just proof of the plan! Of course, the military is continuing with its own space program.
I just hope that our future includes more space exploits!
I got the photo from NASA, which I assume means it is legal to post here.
