The original article says it was a total waste of money and a complete failure.
Again the deficiency in the shuttle ties to the early budget. The only way to get it made with the budget they had forced a higher maintenance design. It’s a classic example of saving money early so you can spend more later. Nixon didn’t like NASA, it was too associated with Kennedy and he had too much loathing of all things Kennedy. They presented multiple idea for a reusable craft to bring them into the future, he told them to proceed with the cheapest but to do it for even cheaper. He opted for a space program in name alone. But that’s still better than no space program.
It really doesn’t matter how it got there, but the end result was a shuttle program that was far too expensive given the results achieved for the money spent. The ONLY reason it lasted as long as it did was sentimentality...politics too.
BTW...we could have put Hubble in space without the shuttle, and were it not for the ocean of money wasted keeping the shuttle far past its’ prime, we could have 50 Hubbles right now.