[onedoug]

I generally agree with you second statement, but tend to disagree with your first. Whether they are "Rambos" or not does not preclude the necessity of human applications to military problems in orbit.

[samtheman]

I didn't mean to denigrate them by calling them rambos. All our astronauts are heros and I salute them and I love to watch shuttle launches and follow the progress of their missions on the news. Their deaths are genuine national tragedies.

I'm only arguing one point: that military supremacy in space is very important for the survival of our country and that it is completely unrelated to the shuttle/ISS missions. Those missions might have their own valid justifications, but, in my opinion, the military dominance of Near Earth Orbits, which is crucial to US defence, does not depend on them at all.