“1970s technology served us well.”
There’s no need to throw away stuff that still works and does what it’s supposed to do. That’s where we went wrong in the ‘70s. The proven Apollo spacecraft was discarded in favor of this hugely expensive shuttle program that didn’t live up to its promise of being reusable.
The Russians got it right. They’re flying a spacecraft from the ‘60s on a rocket from the ‘50s. It’s worked out very well for them, and they haven’t lost any cosmonauts on a flight since 1971.
Don't start with that.
Not that they didn't try to advance beyond that. But the USSR's resources were stretched to the limit. As will be the USA's under Zero.
No need to go to extremes. No need to throw away anything that works, agreed but it is time to move on - problem is, we have no back up system, no future for manned spaceflight. What does Eugene Cernan (Apollo 17) think about all this?
Quite correct. The shuttle program was sold as being reusable and economical. It was a huge waste of money and human lives.