[MamaB]

Well I was in a hurry. Hubby had called from the office and is sick. I just wanted to point our a few things that we owe to the space shuttle program.

[reagandemo]

These are alway interesting blogs. First, It is without argument that the technology which has been invented by space exploration has greatly benefitted mankind. Also, I doubt that they would have been discovered in as a timely manner if not for space exploration as one poster stated. Second, where what Rutan did was admirable it was about as close to the ability of the shuttle as the Wright Brother's plane to a 747. There is a heck of a difference between reaching 100,000 plus feet and reaching escape velocity at 60 plus miles.Will Rutan do it? My guess is yes and probably a lot cheaper. But he is not there or even close. Now what has NASA done since Apollo? Well they have two robots working on Mars for more than a year, one flying around Saturn as I type this. Not to mention the other ones which have been successful. NASA is in a difficult position. They have to prove their value prior to a mission. Without a cold war and a JFK to promote them it is an impossible job which I would not want.