[papasmurf]

I respectfully disagree. It was the ability to do so many things. The shuttle is a very utilitarian vehicle. Reusable was a bonus.

However, our disagreement aside, $450 million per shot for the shuttle is not sustainable.

I still think we can do better. We’ve become a lazy society, in mind and body. We need to be challenged in a motivating way again.

[hunter112]

I'll admit, they certainly made a Swiss Army knife out of the thing. But it also locked our space program into 1970's technology well into the 21st Century.

At some point, we will have different propulsion systems that will make the dreams of the science fiction writers come true. A hundred years ago, you had to be a mechanic to own and operate an auto, and even then, you had a limited range of decent roads to drive on. That's no longer the case.

Until we get a Zefram Cochrane to invent some sort of warp drive system, we're probably best served by using single purpose space vehicles. They got us out of the atmosphere and on to the surface of the moon in a timeframe that even the sci-fi writers couldn't have imagined.