[airborne]

IMHO, the space shuttle was a waste of time.

[KevinDavis]

I happen to agree, but you have to understand.. NASA madate changes with each admin and who controls Congress. During the moon launches, the rats control congress. Plus the Nixon and Carter admin didn't help NASA too much either..

[Calvin Locke]

The shuttle became a waste of time. It was worth the effort, initially. Unfortunately, NASA did not cut it's (taxpayers)
losses once the shuttle failed to deliver the cost/performance/benefit ratios.

They let it become a white elephant, draining the science and innovation out of the space program.